Escaped Cartel Leader ‘Chapo’ Guzman Nabbed

(CN) - Mexican authorities captured the escaped cartel leader Joaquin Guzman-Loera, better known as El Chapo, on Friday after six months on the run.

Marking his second high-profile escape, Guzman tunneled out of a high-security prison in Mexico City in July - an embarrassment to some Mexican officials, as the country had resisted U.S. efforts to extradite him.

Amid sightings of Guzman in the mountains of Sinaloa state, his operation's home base, dozens of Mexican officials have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating the escape.

Confirming Guzman's arrest after an announcement by Mexico this afternoon, the Drug Enforcement Administration called Guzman's capture "a significant achievement in our shared fight against transnational organized crime, violence, and drug trafficking."

"It is further evidence of our two countries' resolve to ensure justice is served for families who have been plagued by Guzman-Loera's ruthless acts of violence," the DEA said in a statement.

Quoting a senior law enforcement official in Mexico, CNN reported that members the Mexican Navy caught Guzman in a raid at about before dawn in the coastal city of Los Mochis in Sinaloa state.

Several of Guzman's associates reportedly died in the raid.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch called Guzman's arrest "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 latest attempt to escape has failed, and he will now have to answer for his alleged crimes, which have resulted in significant violence, suffering and corruption on multiple continents," Lynch said.

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