Mexico drug kingpin Joaquín Guzmán, also known as El Chapo, was recaptured after his second escape from the country's maximum-security prison in July 2015. After six months of freedom, the cartel lord is again arrested while he's in the process of making a biographical film about himself.
The New York Times reported that he is successfully recaptured after a gun battle in his safe house in Sinaloa, Mexico. He was raided again after first escaping the firefight and made his way to nearby Los Mochis motel. After that, the man is paraded in front of the media and made to face the press before he was taken away by officials in a helicopter.
According to Centre Daily Times, at least 2,500 security and intelligence agents were involved in the efforts of locating and securing El Chapo. This operation is now regarded as the most intensive manhunt in modern Mexican history.
The raid involved not only Mexican officers but also U.S Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S Marshals. El Chapo, which name means "a short man" in Spanish, is wanted not only in Mexico but also the U.S, where he exported more than 500 tons of cocaine.
Besides El Chapo, six other cartel gangsters were also arrested in the raid that killed five cartel gangsters and injured one Mexican marine, as reported by Daily Mail Online. Among the captured cartel gangsters is El Cholo, El Chapo's right-hand man who was also wanted in the country.
When captured, El Chapo had started a process of making his own biographical film. Los Angeles Times wrote about his meeting with on October with American actor Sean Penn, who starred The Gunman (2015) and a biographic film Milk (2008). He also has had meetings with producers, which in turn allowed the Mexican authorities to track and locate him.
El Chapo was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 but escaped in 2001. He continued leading drug operations from the remote mountains in Sinaloa and Durango states of Mexico also known as Golden Triangle for years before being recaptured in 2014 in Sinaloa. He escaped again on July 2015 through a tunnel that led to a construction site.
The raid move on Friday ended the month-long of watching El Chapo and planning the operation. Although the operation received aids from the U.S authorities, an American official regarded the raid as a Mexican operation, which is mainly planned and executed by Mexico. It is not yet announced whether the drug lord will be extradited to the U.S.
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