The other day we posted on the blog that Mexican security forces had captured the most wanted man in the world, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán — the notorious drug lord and celebrated escape virtuoso.
Want to see how they did it? We thought so.
Thankfully, we can, because footage actually exists of the extreme raid — called “Operation Black Swan” — on the kingpin’s hideaway (below) from the perspective of one of the Mexican Navy commando’s helmet, where a camera was positioned.
As it turned out (and perhaps to no one’s surprise) El Chapo was prepared for the raiding forces, and snuck out through a secret passageway: a door behind a mirror in a bedroom closet opened by something on the closet’s light fixture.The sub rosa opening gave way to the sewers below the Mexican city where the refuge stood — Los Mochis.
It took approximately an hour and a half for the commandos to discover the hidden out, and by that time Chapo and his bodyguard had already crawled through putrid sewage (a la Andy Dufresne) and surfaced on the city streets above. Reports say that the two stole a car that quickly ran out of fuel. When they stole another car, Mexican authorities were able to track it down and they were apprehended and taken into custody. They were then escorted to a sex motel where members of the Mexican Navy watched their every move until an “extraction team” showed up.
This from Foxtrot Alpha:
During El Chapo’s attempted escape, Mexican commandos dropped down into the sewers in an attempt to find him but they began to fill with rainwater and they had to get out. At the same time other commandos were involved in a roof-to-roof gunfight with fragments of El Chapo’s crew. In the end, five gunman were killed and four were arrested. It is not clear if more got away, although previous reports stated that at least one of El Chapo’s top associates was on the run after the raid.
To top it all off? Mexican officials are now saying they were led to the hideout thanks to Sean Penn, who interviewed the kingpin for Rolling Stone magazine back in October (the story was published this past weekend).
In the piece, Penn quotes the 58-year-old Mexican man as saying “I supply more heroine, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats.”
Chapo’s line upon being captured? “Mis vacaciones han terminado.” Or something to that effect.
“My holidays are over.”
Mexico is now in the process of extraditing Guzmán to the United States to stand trial.
Here's how the extradition process for El Chapo will look https://t.co/6bOj4yS6vH
— Insider Politics (@insiderpolitics) January 12, 2016