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El Chapo Captured! Mexican Drug Lord Joaquin Guzman Arrested Six Months After Escaping Prison

Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera aka 'El Chapo.'
Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera aka 'El Chapo.'

Sleep tight, Donald Trump. On Friday, January 8, Mexico’s president announced that notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has finally been recaptured, six months after he escaped a maximum security prison.

“Mission accomplished: we have it,” President Pena Nieto tweeted. “I want to inform Mexicans Joaquin Guzman Loera has been arrested.”

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Guzman, 60, made headlines last July after he broke out of his cell in the Altiplano Federal Prison in what authorities believed to be an elaborately planned escape — all of which was caught on tape.

In the chilling clip, the criminal can be seen alone in his cell, apparently tying his shoes while sitting on his bed before calmly walking over to the shower and disappearing through a hole in the floor.

Guzman then allegedly climbed down 30 feet and made his way through a secret mile-long tunnel before surfacing and escaping, likely with the help of “a mix of prison guards and his own people,” The Cartel author Don Winslow told CNN at the time.

A man shows a picture of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin
A man shows a picture of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman during a press conference held by Mexico’s Attorney General Arely Gomez at the Interior Ministry building in Mexico City, on July 13, 2015.

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“My bet is that he went out the front gate, and the tunnel was a tissue-thin face-saving device for Mexican officials, the motorcycle a dramatic improvement over the laundry cart,” Winslow added.

GOP presidential frontrunner Trump was outspoken in his distaste for El Chapo and his political opponents in the days following Guzman’s escape.

“Mexico’s biggest drug lord escapes from jail. Unbelievable corruption and USA is paying the price. I told you so!” the Republican presidential hopeful tweeted on July 12. “Can you envision Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton negotiating with ‘El Capo’, the Mexican drug lord who escaped from prison? … Trump, however, would kick his ass!”

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