DRUGS 24
1-3dt Third arrest: 2016
President Enrique Peńa Nieto, accompanied by Cabinet members, holds a press conference in the
Palacio Nacional announcing the capture of Joaquín Guzmán
According to the official report published by Mexican Navy, citizens reported “armed people” in a house
at the coastal city of Los Mochis in northern Sinaloa, which was then placed under surveillance for one
month. Monitored communications indicated the home was being prepared for the arrival of “Grandma”
or “Aunt”, which authorities suspected was code for a high-priority potential target. After the gunmen
returned to the house, placing a large order for tacos at a nearby restaurant and picking up the order in
a white van after midnight, the residence was raided in the early hours of 8 January 2016 by 17 marines
from the Mexican Navy’s Special Forces with support from the Mexican Army and the Federal Police.
The Federal Police captured Guzmán, along with cartel lieutenant Óscar Iván Gastélum Aguilar
(“El Cholo”), following a shootout with the marines.
During the raid, codenamed Operation Black Swan, Guzmán and Gastélum managed to briefly escape
through a secret tunnel, hidden behind a mirror in a closet, that led to the city’s sewer system, ran for
about 1.5 km, surfaced, and stole a vehicle at gunpoint. A statewide alert was issued for the stolen
vehicle, and the Federal Police located and intercepted it about 20 km south of Los Mochis near a
town called Juan José Ríos. Guzmán attempted to bribe the officers with offers of cash, properties,
and offers of jobs. When the officers refused, Guzmán told them “you are all going to die”. The four
police officers sent pictures of Guzmán to their superiors, who were tipped that 40 assassins were
on their way to free Guzmán. To avoid this counter-attack by cartel members, the policemen were
told to take their prisoners to a motel on the outskirts of town to wait for reinforcements, and later,
handed over the prisoners to the marines. They were subsequently taken to Los Mochis airport for
transport to Mexico City, where Guzmán was presented to the press at the Mexico City airport and
then flown by a Navy helicopter to the same maximum-security prison from which he escaped in
July 2015.
During the raid, five gunmen were killed, six others arrested, and one Marine was wounded. The
Mexican Navy said that they found two armored cars, eight assault rifles, including two Barrett M82
sniper rifles, two M16 rifles with grenade launchers and a loaded rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Mexican authorities raided 18 known Guzmán residences in the months before his capture. Guzmán
had a close call in early October 2015, several days after meeting with American actor Sean Penn
and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. The actress was first approached by Guzmán’s lawyers in
2014, after having published an open letter to Guzmán in 2012 in which she expressed her sympathy
and requested him to “traffic in love” instead of in drugs; Guzmán reached out again to del Castillo
after his 2015 escape, and allegedly sought to cooperate with her in making a film about his life.
On 2 October, Penn and del Castillo visited Guzmán for seven hours at his hideout in the mountains,
with Penn interviewing the fugitive for Rolling Stone magazine. Guzmán, who had never before
acknowledged his drug trafficking to a journalist, told Penn he had a “fleet of submarines, airplanes,
trucks and boats” and that he supplied “more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana
than anybody else in the world”. An unnamed Mexican official confirmed that Penn’s meeting helped
authorities locate Guzmán, with cell phone interceptions and information from American authorities
directing Mexican Marines to a ranch near Tamazula, Durango, in the Sierra Madre mountains in
western Mexico. The raid on the ranch was met with heavy gunfire and Guzmán was able to flee.
The Attorney General of México declared that “El Chapo ran away through a gully and, although he
was found by a helicopter, he was with two women and a girl and it was decided not to shoot”.
The two women were later revealed to be Guzmán’s personal chefs, who had traveled with him to
multiple safe houses. At one point, Guzmán reportedly carried a child on his arms “obscuring
himself as a target”.
1-3du Reactions
Secretary of the Interior Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong was hosting a reunion with Mexico’s ambassadors
and consuls when he received a notice from the President on Guzmán’s capture. He returned a few
moments later with Secretary of National Defense Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, Secretary of Navy
Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu. Osorio Chong
then announced the capture to the diplomats by reading the President’s tweet which resulted in applause
and chants of Viva México, Viva el Presidente Peńa and Viva las Fuerzas Armadas (Long live Mexico,
Long live President Peńa, Long live our Military Forces). This was followed by a spontaneous rendition
of the National Anthem by the crowd.
Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, congratulated Mexican President, Enrique Peńa Nieto,
for the capture of Guzmán. Santos stated that “Guzmán’s capture is a success, a great blow against
organized crime, and drug trafficking”, adding that “finally, this individual (Guzmán), like all criminals,
will find what he deserves in the eyes of justice, and we celebrate that the Mexican authorities have
recaptured this criminal”. Loretta Lynch, United States Attorney General, praised Mexican authorities
“who have worked tirelessly in recent months to bring Guzmán to justice”.
1-3dv Extradition proceedings
A renewed process of extradition to the United States was formally launched by Mexico two days after
Guzmán was recaptured. Guzmán’s lawyers are mounting “numerous and creative injunctions” to defend
against extradition, and the process could take from one to six years. President Peńa Nieto does not
have the authority to issue an executive order to immediately extradite Guzmán without due process.
Also, a critical requirement for extradition is that the US must guarantee they will not use the death
penalty against Guzmán if found guilty of homicide charges. On 2 March 2016 Guzmán’s lawyer stated
that Guzmán requested extradition to the United States so he could receive better treatment in prison.
Guzmán is wanted in Chicago, San Diego, New York City, New Hampshire, Miami and Texas, in
addition to the indictments in at least seven different US federal courts. Charges in USA include conspiracy
to import and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy association, organized crime against
health, money laundering, homicide and possession of firearms.
Guzmán was transferred on 5 May 2016 to a prison near Ciudad Juarez, near the border with Texas.
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