EL CHAPO GUZMAN FINALLY RECAPTURED

       EL CHAPO GUZMAN FINALLY RECAPTURED

Notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who broke out of a maximum security prison through an elaborate tunnel six months ago, was recaptured Friday.

"Mission accomplished — we have him," Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced on Twitter.

Guzman's daring escape in July — his second in 14 years — was an embarrassment for Peña Nieto, who had previously said an escape would be “unforgivable.”

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called Friday's capture "a blow to the international drug-trafficking syndicate he is alleged to have led, a victory for the citizens of both Mexico and the United States, and a vindication of the rule of law in our countries."

Guzman’s escape last year was a point of friction between the two nations. The U.S. had desired his extradition and his recapture is likely to reopen the issue. The Justice Department had no immediate comment on whether it will push to extradite Guzman to the U.S., where he faces charges in multiple jurisdictions across the country.

Mexican Marines said in a statement that marines, acting on a tip, raided a home before dawn Friday in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzman’s home state of Sinaloa. The assault team was fired upon from inside the structure. Five suspects were killed and six others arrested. One marine was wounded, but did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

Marines seized two armored vehicles, eight long guns, one handgun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, the marines said in a statement.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said it was "extremely pleased" with the successful operation, calling it "a victory for the rule of law and the Mexican people and government."

The statement by the Mexican Marines did not mention Guzman by name, only referring to "alleged members of organized crime." The assault team also found Orso Ivan Gastelum Cruz, the presumed boss of the north zone of Sinaloa for the Sinaloa drug Cartel, but said he escaped during the operation, according to the statement.

In televised remarks Friday afternoon, Peña Nieto praised the security, intelligence, police and justice services for their operation.

"We are proud of them, they are the pride of our nation," he said.

He said Guzman's capture was the result of "months of very careful and determined intelligence work and criminal investigation."

The diminutive Guzman, whose nickname means "Shorty," wielded so much power as head of the Sinaloa drug cartel that the Chicago Crime Commission called him Public Enemy No. 1, a label applied to gangster Al Capone in 1930.

After breaking out of Puente Grande prison in 2001, he spent more than a decade on the run, rising to lead the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles large quantities of drugs into the United States. The cartel is a key player in a drug war that has ravaged parts of Mexico for years and cost thousands of lives.

Guzman escaped that time with the help of prison guards, who possibly hid him in a laundry cart. He was recaptured in February 2014 and held at Altiplano before his escape in July. The governor of the prison and several guards were arrested after his most recent escape, which took place through a tunnel carved beneath the shower stall in his cell.

Peña Nieto and federal officials have been criticized for not extraditing Guzmán to the U.S., in spite of the shortcomings in the Mexican prison system.

Following his arrest in Mexico Friday, the world's most-wanted drug lord was escorted onto a plane. Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman was caught six months after tunneling out of a maximum security prison.

Peña Nieto's credibility has plunged in the past 18 months, with corruption scandals and perceived incompetence on security matters pulling down his approval rating to levels not seen in 20 years. Proponents were quick to pounce on Guzman's recapture as proof the president is serious about security.

"The whole world and all Mexicans realize that we will get to the bottom in this war against organized crime. Don't have even the slightest doubt," said Emilio Gamboa, leader of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the Senate.

Analysts say the capture gives the president a chance to regain some credibility after taking a political hit.

“In spite of concerns that Peña Nieto's government would go easy on kingpins and organized crime, it hasn't,” said Malcolm Beith, a journalist who wrote a book on Guzmán. “Catching Chapo again now gives Mexico a great opportunity to either try him quickly and fairly and make sure that if found guilty he remains behind bars or extradite him and prove that U.S.-Mexican relations are just as strong as ever.”

That Guzmán was captured by marines failed to surprise Jorge Kawas, a Mexican security consultant, who also suggested U.S. intelligence may have been used in the operation.

The Mexican Navy "has been and continues to be the most trusted by its U.S. counterparts and Mexican federal authorities, the key reason it continues to lead these high-profile operations," he said.