Worlds' Most Wanted Drug Lord Finally Found
By: S.Hill
After more than a decade of the escape of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the chase has finally come to an end. Just before 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, soldiers and officers stormed the condominium tower in Mazatlán, Mexico. This beach resort is known for being a popular hangout for drug traffickers. After his first arrest El Chapo was able to escape prison in a laundry basket and had been at large ever since. Becoming a master at escaping raids and eluding police. However, his luck ran out. On February 16, 2014, the DEA was able to locate a cell phone that belonged to Guzman’s communications chief, Carlos Ho-Ramirez. The task force put a wiretap on this phone and used the information they received to locate other known associates of Guzman. After receiving enough to be able to organize a capture of Guzman, the DEA turned the information over to Mexican authorities. The next day, February 17, The Mexican police arrested Mario Hidalgo Arguello, who was an ‘errand boy’ for El Chapo. Fortunately, for police this arrest gave them an abundance of information. Including five more stash houses and hideouts. Every single one of these house came equipped with steel doors and escape tunnels, usually located in the restroom under the bathtub. Mario also identified one of the houses as being the main residence of El Chapo. Armed with this information the Mexican authorities raided the main house, but due to the fortitude of the steel doors, El Chapo was able to escape this raid, getting out through the bathtub tunnel. This setback did not deter authorities. They quickly located and arrested one of El Chapo’s security forces. He informed police and the task force that he had picked up El Chapo and an unknown woman from a drainage pipe and took them to the hotel in Mazatlán, Mexico. By this time, everyone in El Chapo’s security force realized that the phones were not secure, and ceased using them. On Feb. 20, The Mexican authorities arrested another one of El Chapo’s associates named El Mayo, who was Guzman’s strategist. He quickly gave up information about where the Mexican authorities may be able to find Guzman. Though many of Guzman’s forces realized that their phones had been compromised, Carlos Ho-Ramirez did not. U.S. Marshals were able to identify that a new device was online, and track it to the hotel in Mazatlán. A few hours later, the Mexican police raided the hotel and Guzman gave up without a fight. Guzman has been responsible for not only tens of thousands of Mexican deaths, but for thousands of deaths in the U.S. as well. He charges on him in several different state and dubbed the Osama Bin Laden of the drug world. With his capture, some people are relieved that this mad man will finally, be brought to justice. Others worry about turf wars now that the drug king is gone. At this point only time will tell.
