MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has written in his Twitter account that fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been recaptured seven months after he escaped from a maximum security prison.
Pena Nieto wrote in his Twitter account on Friday: “mission accomplished: we have him.”
An official tells AP reporter Mark Stevenson that fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was apprehended after a shootout with Mexican marines in the city of Los Mochis, in his home state of Sinaloa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by name.
Five people were killed and one Mexican marine wounded in the clash.
The Mexican Navy said in a statement that marines acting on a tip raided a home in the town of Los Mochis before dawn. They were fired on from inside the structure. Five suspects were killed and six others arrested.
The Mexican Navy says that marines seized two armored vehicles, eight rifles, one handgun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in the raid.
Photos of the arms seized suggested that Guzman and his associates had a fearsome arsenal at the non-descript white house in which he was hiding.
Two of the rifles seized were .50-caliber sniper guns, capable of penetrating most bullet-proof vests and cars. The grenade launcher was found loaded, with an extra round nearby. And an assault rifle had a .40 mm grenade launcher, and at least one grenade.
