Notorious drug trafficker, 'El Chapo' Guzmán arrested in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the man who supplied more illegal drugs to the United States than anyone else on Earth, was captured by the Mexican military without a shot Saturday morning in the Pacific coast town resort of Mazatlán, according to U.S. and Mexican authorities.

The arrest of the world’s most wanted drug lord was electrifying news in Mexico and a major political victory for its president, Enrique Peña Nieto. On Saturday afternoon, Peña Nieto confirmed the capture in a tweet and thanked his security forces. “Congratulations to all,” he wrote.

Reconozco la labor de las instituciones de seguridad del Estado mexicano, para lograr la aprehensión de Joaquín Guzmán Loera en Mazatlán. — Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) February 22, 2014

Guzmán runs an organized crime empire that spans several continents and earns billions of dollars. Guzmán built a shipping and transport empire that plied air, sea and roads to sate the world’s demand for cocaine, heroin and marijuana. From Los Angeles warehouses to Chicago barrios, his employees criss-crossed America to supply their customers.

His Sinaloa cartel is the grandfather of Mexican drug-running organizations, the wealthiest and most powerful corporation in the business, whose riches have corrupted generations of Mexican politicians and corroded the nation’s democracy.