World's No. 1 Drug Lord Arrested

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is caught in Mexico
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2014 11:03 AM CST
No. 1 Drug Lord Arrested in Mexico
Joaquin Guzman Loera, in 1993.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

A joint US-Mexican force captured the world's most powerful drug lord without firing a shot, reports the Wall Street Journal. Authorities arrested Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman at a hotel in Mazatlan overnight, reports AP. Guzman runs Mexico's notorious Sinaloa Cartel. The 56-year-old has been captured before, but he's been on the run since escaping from a maximum-security prison in 2001 in a laundry truck. Forbes has pegged his net worth at more than $1 billion and even put him on its "World's Most Powerful People" list.

Few details about the arrest were immediately available, though CNN says it was the result of a weeks-long operation and that Guzman was with a female companion at the time. Last year, the Chicago Crime Commission officially labeled Guzman "Public Enemy No. 1," a moniker that hadn't been used since the Al Capone era, because his cartel supplies most of the city's drugs. Sinaloa's reach is thought to extend all the way to Australia, specializing in cocaine and meth. As for the nickname: It means "shorty." Guzman is 5-6. (More Joaquin Guzman stories.)

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