Mexico arrests world most wanted drug baron

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MEXICO: AT last, Mexican marines have arrested the world’s most wanted drug kingpin, Joaquin Guzman, often called El Chapo.

But no fewer than five people were killed while a marine was injured, though not a life-threatening one, in the

shootout at Guzman’s house before he was apprehended.

Six others were also arrested during the raid said to have occurred at his Los Mochis residence in Sinaloa, GatewayMail learnt.

It was gathered that at the end of the bloody encounter security agents seized a rocket-propelled grenade launcher (said to be fully loaded), one handgun, two armoured vehicles and eight rifles, two of which were .50-calibre sniper guns – powerful enough to penetrate bulletproof vests and vehicles.

The Friday arrest of Guzman six months after his jail escape – which was announced by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto – was the third in recent times.

“Mission accomplished: we have him,” the President said on his Twitter account, but he later addressed the press particularly to defend his administration over the previous escapes of El Chapo in prison under his government.

When the drug czar was last arrested, he was detained at a maximum-secured prison, but he escaped through the tunnel, the development which embarrassed the government, particularly with jeers from the United States government – which had filed for his extradition.

Guzman had escaped from jail in 2001 and also on July 11, 2015 after less than 18 months in detention.

While speaking on the arrest, Nieto said: “The arrest of today is very important for the government of Mexico. It shows that the public can have confidence in its institutions.  Mexicans can count on a government (that has) decided and determined to build a better country.”

The arrest was a welcome development to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) which expressed satisfaction on the arrest.

“The arrest is a significant achievement in our shared fight against transnational organized crime, violence and drug trafficking,” a statement by the DEA said, while the US Justice Department also praised the Mexican security agencies.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said: “I salute the Mexican law enforcement and military personnel who have worked tirelessly in recent months to bring Guzman to justice.”

• By Femi Shodunke