World's Most Wanted Drug Trafficker, Forbes Billionaire Captured After 12 Years
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, described as the most powerful drug trafficker in the world, was arrested in a beach condominium on Saturday with help from U.S. agencies in a major victory for the government in a long, grisly war.
When Mexican marines burst into the apartment he was staying in at 6.40am the
discovered Guzman with an unidentified woman.Guzman, also known as Shorty, was
photographed being escorted by troops through
Mexico City airport later
in the day. No shots were fired as troops burst in on the 56-year-old drug lord
in Mazatlan, and he was arrested along
with three men believed to be his bodyguards.A team of 25 marines entered the
complex on Saturday morning, overpowering two security teams to protect the drug
kingpin.
Guzman faces drug trafficking and other charges, and is wanted in at least six
U.S. districts, as well as Mexico.
He is the suspected head of the deadly Sinoa cartel, believed to be responsible
for moving a quarter of the drugs that enter the U.S. from Mexico.The plot to
catch Guzman, who notoriously escaped from a maximum security prison in the back of a
laundry truck in 2011, had taken weeks to plan. He had been serving a 20-year
sentence for bribery and criminal association
Despite being a billionaire, Guzman was found in a relatively basic
apartment. Photos of the condominium taken after the raid, show bed sheets
ripped off a mattress, yellowing kitchen cabinets and uninviting tiled
floors.
In the kitchen, what appears to be a pancake can be seen left in a frying pan,
and a pile of fruit and vegetables has been left in a cheap plastic container.
Guzman’s cartel has smuggled billions of dollars worth of cocaine, marijuana and
methamphetamines into the United States, and fought vicious turf wars with other
Mexican gangs.
He pioneered the use of sophisticated underground tunnels to smuggle drug
shipments across the border and also became a major narcotics exporter to Europe
and Asia in recent years.
Nearly 80,000 people have been killed in the last seven years with much of the
violence in western and northern regions that have long been key smuggling
routes.
Many of the victims are tortured and beheaded and their bodies dumped in a
public place or in mass graves. The violence has ravaged border cities and even
beach resorts such as Acapulco.
Source: Global and Mail
Related
No comments