Druglord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been arrested, Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted Friday.
Misión cumplida: lo tenemos. Quiero informar a los mexicanos que Joaquín Guzmán Loera ha sido detenido.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) January 8, 2016
Guzman was reportedly captured following a shootout with Mexican marines in the city Los Mochis, a coastal city in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa, according to the Associated Press. He was apparently discovered after marines received an anonymous tip, prompting them to launch a pre-dawn raid on the suspected hideout.
Five suspects were killed during the shootout, while six others were arrested. Marines seized two armored vehicles, eight long guns, one handgun and a rocket launcher, as well. One marine was injured during the confrontation, but his wounds are not believed to be life-threatening.
Friday's arrest marks an end to a manhunt that began ever since the Sinaloa Cartel leader escaped from maximum security prison Altiplano on July 11. He had a run-in with authorities in mid-October in Northwest Mexico. He managed to escape but suffered injuries to his leg and face as he fled. At the time, officials clarified the incident, noting that his injuries were not the direct result of a clash, Reuters reported.
His escape was seen as an embarrassment to Nieto's administration and Mexican law enforcement as a whole, especially since the U.S. attempted to have him moved to a different facility, but Mexico, at the time, argued that Guzman would die in prison and never see the outside world again.
Referencing this, Nieto thanked the Security Cabinet of the Government of the Republic for "this important achievement for the rule of the law in Mexico."
Guzman had a $5 million bounty placed on him by authorities prior to his arrest.
