Mexican Drug Cartel Kingpin Captured In Joint U.S.-Mexico Raid 22FEB14

THE Mexican people should be proud of their government and military for capturing joaquin el chapo guzman. He is an evil man, and no matter how much money he spent buying the good will of the people in the areas he controlled, he did it with blood money, and so even his good actions were motivated by evil. If the U.S. could only commit the resources to stopping drugs at the border and more importantly commit the necessary resources to eliminate most of the demand for drugs from Mexico the Mexican government might gain the upper hand in the struggle to cleanse their nation of the moral and social rot the drug cartels inflict on the Mexican people. The U.S. needs to impose strict, unyielding border controls to thoroughly search and inspect every vehicle, no matter what it is, and no matter how long it takes, crossing the border in either direction. Rural border patrols have to increased to intercept drugs transported by foot, animal or off road vehicle. Border agents should be trained and equipped for deadly force. And the American government needs to provide the programs, treatment and support addicts need to end their dependency on drugs. We have to stop whining about the drugs from Mexico and actually commit to eliminating, as much as possible, market for those drugs from Mexico. From NPR....

February 22, 201412:09 PM

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican navy marines at a navy hanger in Mexico City on Saturday. A senior U.S. law enforcement official said that Guzman, the head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, was captured alive overnight in the beach resort town of Mazatlan.

Eduardo Verdugo/AP

This story was updated at 4:20 p.m. ET.
The head of Mexico's , Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was captured overnight by U.S. and Mexican officials in the Pacific coastal town of Mazatlan.
first broke the story, quoting an unnamed "senior U.S. law enforcement official." NPR's Carrie Johnson has confirmed the arrest.
AP reports:

"Guzman faces multiple federal drug trafficking indictments in the U.S. and is on the Drug Enforcement Administration's most-wanted list. His drug empire stretches throughout North America and reaches as far away as Europe and Australia. His cartel has been heavily involved in the bloody drug war that has torn through parts of Mexico for the last several years."

Carrie spoke to a law enforcement source who said that Guzman was captured at a resort.
"The discovery of a complex of tunnels under various residences helped authorities nab Guzman," she says, whose source says "no shots were fired in the capture."
reports:

"Few details were available on Saturday morning, but a picture of Mr. Guzmán, who appeared to be handcuffed and with a few cuts to his face and torso, circulated among law enforcement officials. So hidden was he that there was uncertainty what he looked like, but American officials believe they have the right man. Mexican marines captured him in the Pacific beach resort area of Mazatlan. ... In the past year, several of his top associates had been detained and crime analysts who follow the drug world had speculated his days were increasingly numbered."

In a 2012 story in , Guzman was described as "the world's most powerful drug trafficker."
The Times wrote:

"Guzmán's organization is responsible for as much as half of the illegal narcotics imported into the United States from Mexico each year; he may well be the most-wanted criminal in this post-Bin Laden world."

It's not the first time that authorities had gotten close to Guzman. In 2012, that the Mexican Navy had had to backtrack after announcing that the drug kingpin's son, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, had been captured, only to realize later they had gotten the wrong man.
The Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI have "high confidence" that they got Guzman this time though, Carrie says.
"To give you a sense of El Chapo's reach and longevity, he has been charged in eight different U.S. districts," she says, adding that there's no word on possible extradition.
Later, Guzman was taken to the capital, Mexico City, where he was paraded in front of the media at a navy hangar, before boarded a helicopter surrounded by armed troops. AP quotes Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam as saying Guzman was taken directly to prison.

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