Mexican President Says El Chapo Has Been Captured

The notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo” has been recaptured some six months after escaping from a high-security prison, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto announced via Twitter:

Approximate translation: “Mission accomplished: We got him. I’d like to inform Mexicans that Joaquín Guzmán Loera has been arrested.”

The AP has some details:

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by name said Guzman was apprehended after a shootout with Mexican marines in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzman’s home state of Sinaloa …

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. 

Here’s where that is:

Guzman escaped from prison last July via a tunnel; as this New Yorker piece discusses, his Sinoloa cartel has a great deal of experience building tunnels, which they’ve long used to smuggle drugs under the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2015 escape was the second time Guzman had escaped from jail. 

This post has been updated with new information.