WASHINGTON — (CNN) Drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been captured, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Friday via Twitter.
“Mission Accomplished,” the President wrote. “We have him.”
Mexican Federal Police spokesman Jose Ramon Salinas confirmed Guzman’s capture to CNN.
Nicknamed “Shorty” for his height, Guzman has escaped twice from Mexican custody. The first was from a maximum-security prison in 2001 when he reportedly hid in a laundry cart.
The latest instance came when he broke out of another maximum-security prison through a mile-long underground tunnel in July.
He then traveled north about 140 kilometers (85 miles) to San Juan del Rio, where two small planes were awaiting his arrival and took off from an airstrip, Attorney General Arely Gomez has said.
Since then, he’d been rumored to be many places, including as far away as Argentina. In October, authorities revealed they were hot on Guzman’s trail, only to have him slip out of sight, though not before apparently breaking his leg.
Gomez said last fall that 34 people have been detained in connection with Guzman’s breakout last year, including the drug lord’s brother-in-law.
The Sinaloa cartel chief’s high profile and ability to elude authorities have been held up as an example of Mexico’s reputed ineptitude in dealing with powerful drug cartels.
The breakout also spurred major criticism about the Mexican government’s ability to safeguard such a notorious criminal, with some saying he should have been held in the United States.
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