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Damian Dovarganes / AP file
Drug lord Joaquin Guzman gestures in this June 10, 1993 file photo. Guzman was included in Forbes' last list of billionaires. The magazine estimates his worth at $1 billion, number 701 on the list.
Jose Cuitlahuac Salinas, Mexico's assistant attorney general in charge of organized crime investigations, confirmed on Sunday that there was a near miss in late February in the government's efforts to arrest the man who has become one of the world's top fugitives since he escaped prison in a laundry truck in 2001.
"We know he was there," Salinas told The Associated Press.
The incident fuels growing speculation that authorities are closing in on Guzman, and that the government of President Felipe Calderon is determined to grab him before his six-year term ends in December.
Calderon can't be re-elected, and his National Action Party is trailing in the polls ahead of the July 1 presidential vote. Many Mexicans say they are weary of his government's assault on organized crime that has left more than 47,000 dead and Guzman stronger than ever. The arrest of the top capo likely would be a political boon to the ruling party.
Two men and two women in the house where Guzman allegedly had been staying were detained and are in the custody of the attorney general's organized crime unit, Salinas said. He did not release their names but said at least one of the men served as a pilot for Guzman. Federal police also found arms in the house, Salinas said, but he did not offer details.
The raid was led by Mexican authorities. Salinas would not say if the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had any involvement. The DEA referred all comment to the Mexican government.
Since his prison escape, Guzman, 54, has transformed himself from a middling Mexican capo into what the U.S. Treasury Department calls the world's most powerful drug trafficker.
Calderon's government says it doesn't rank the 15 cartel leaders on its most-wanted list, but Guzman's Sinaloa cartel controls trafficking in nearly half of Mexico. Much of the rest of the country is in the hands of the Zetas cartel.
U.S. law enforcement officials say no other cartel has the international cocaine distribution networks of Sinaloa, which is also making a major push into methamphetamines in Mexico and Central America. Guzman appears annually on the Forbes magazine list of the world's billionaires, and also has been named by the magazine as one of the world's most powerful people.
He has a $7 million bounty on his head in Mexico and the U.S., and teams of law enforcement agents from both countries are devoted to his capture.
Guzman is often rumored to be hiding in the remote hills of his home state of Sinaloa, or in other locations, including Argentina for a time. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said he has reports that Guzman has been in his country recently as well.
One U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks quoted Mexican Defense Secretary, Gen. Guillermo Galvan Galvan, as saying that Guzman moves frequently among 10 to 15 locations to avoid arrest, and has a security detail of up to 300 men.
Salinas said he didn't know if this time Guzman was in the house with only four other people and lacked the expected entourage of bodyguards and surveillance equipment, which reportedly normally includes helicopters. He would not give details of how the operation was carried out or what the four may have told authorities.
"That's classified information," he said.
Rumors also surface regularly that police have shown up in various hideouts just as Guzman is escaping out the back door. Law enforcement and military have said they were close before, including raiding a remote Sinaloa town where Guzman got married in 2007 hours after the wedding.
His narrow escapes raise the suspicion that he could be getting tipped off, including this time.
A series of bus burnings and narco road blocks in Guadalajara on Friday fueled new talk that authorities had captured Guzman. The commotion instead was related to the arrest of a leader of a smaller cartel, the New Generation, believed to be aligned with Guzman.
"We're still searching," Salinas said. When asked if authorities are close, he just smiled.
Salinas wouldn't say when federal police received the intelligence that Guzman was in one of several exclusive subdivisions of million-dollar homes between the Cabo San Lucas Highway and the beach. The operation ran several days starting on Feb. 21, just as the city had been filled with top security and foreign ministers meeting in advance of the June G20 countries, which will also be held in Los Cabos.
Salinas said he did not know the exact location of the house where the operation took place. But municipal police commander Alfonso Meza said it is located in the exclusive Punta Ballena development overlooking the Gulf of California. The home is still sealed off by the attorney general's office and the organized crime division, he said.
The Calderon administration has long been accused of protecting Guzman as it carried out major hits on his enemies, dismantling the rival Arellano Felix and Beltran Leyva cartels and taking out top leaders of the Gulf Cartel. But more recently, the Calderon government has come up with major hits on Sinaloa. In the last six months, it has netted Guzman's major methamphetamine manufacturer, a major cocaine shipper and Guzman's security chief, seizing computer files and other valuable data.
Los Cabos, at the tip of Baja peninsula, is considered one of the safest locations in Mexico, a favorite vacation spot among Hollywood stars and thousands of U.S. tourists who still venture to Mexican beaches despite the violence that plagues much of the country.
But the peninsula also has been frequented by drug lords. Federal police arrested one of Mexico's most violent drug traffickers, Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo," two years ago in the home he owned in La Paz, north of Los Cabos.
The U.S. Coast Guard in 2006 arrested Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, head of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix gang, as he was sport fishing off the coast of Los Cabos.
Osama bin Laden, the United States' most wanted man for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, was killed by commandos last May in his compound an upscale suburb of Islamabad, Pakistan.
Like Guzman, many had speculated he was hiding out in rugged mountains. Instead, he was found a short distance from the country's main military academy.
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Billionaire? Forbes list? This guy looks like he owns a Taco stand at best. You can clearly see his hat is covered in taco grease. Shhesh are they sure they got the right Amigo?
Who is next?
Pix is from 1993.
However, the salient question is whom all his family of illegals in the U.S. support for president. Dems want 'em to be able to vote, but Romney's family is from Mexico. Tough call. Maybe not much difference.
Nearly isn't good enough. Get his lonely looking self!
Mexican police were heard saying " El Crapo, we almost had El Chapo"!
We almost got him, we almost got him! Quick, to the press!!!
Little Changes, I give you major props for that fastest, most thinly connected derailment to something political possible. Congratulations!
The only reason the border is still open and these guys are still in business...is beacause people are getting PAID on both sides of the border.
Would-a Could-a Should-a
Really, this is a story?
What do you mean by "hopefully we can rally the white vote?" Do any of you geniuses know that the majority of Hispanics in this country are socially conservative, and would support conservative candidates if you wouldn't try to alienate them.
WHERE'S WALDO?
LMAO..nearly?????
Racist much???
actually he would be part of the 1% so that would make him a republican.
I wonder why he was "almost Caught." Makes you think that he has someone in the "inside" letting him know when trouble is headed his way. After all,hasn't he "escaped" twice Before?
Mexican police "Nearly Nabbed" Chapo. What a surprise. They had him, but, once the money arrived they f**ked up and he got away. Yup, the federally's are on the job and stuffing drug money in their pockets, just like they have been for decades.
This article reminds me of when I'm looking for something and someone shouts: "Look there it ISN"T!" Why bother reporting nonsense????
Thanks raddave Right on point. By the way to the others saying this is a Dem or Republican issue. Really For such a So called Christian Nation we really dont love thy Neighbor much!
Do I want illegals coming over not really. To much competition for allot of people out there. Think about it if we fought for those supposed jobs they are (STEALING) They would have no work to come to!!!
Ok now lets say we and or Mexico did get Chapo Guzman. What changes NOTHING except that it will get worse. How?? The cartels (there is more than one) will splinter and grow into more Cartels all even more desperate for power. The Drug war gets messier on both sides of the border.
The only way to curb it or flat out end it. Is to take it over as a nation. Not Mexico. But the drug trade legalize it and make it cheaper and safer for our Citizens than the cartels can sell for. Take away the money supply and they disappear.
Both Dems and Republicans make money off of this in one way or another. Its political for both parties. Just think the republicans voters get less government control!! More business opertunity
And the Dems can have some of the tax money for rehabs
How is this even a story with a "major" headline??? "We almost got him" needs to make headlines??? Really? WHO CARES. Don't tell us how rough the sea is, just bring the ship in, dead or alive. Why don't we start putting public bounties on these clowns heads and have former military special opps guys doing the work?? Time to fight fire with fire down there and make it really uncomfortable to be in the drug business. This will never go away until the entire country of Mexico gets tired of the BS.
How nieve are you merryterry. The top ten richest congresspersons are majority demos. I guess the US was out bid by the cartels to the state police, military or whom ever says they nearly had them.
I have no doubt that this guy owns police in every jurisdiction he frequents. This is why they have been unable to catch him, he uses some of his wealth to pay off some law enforcement types to let him know when a raid is coming. Too bad the US can not use some of those Predator drones in Mexico to nail this SOB. He is directly or indirectly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in Mexico and along the US border. Trying to take him alive is a huge mistake. If they get a tip on where he is they should just bomb the place instead of giving him a chance to slip away. If a few others get killed in the process then that is the price they pay for associating with the likes of Guzman.
I guess there just telling us its business as usual He's Rich he has power and he hides like a little girl, let the beat go on..Lets see if we can double that to 100,000 this year.
I just feel our drones can tag him on a moments notice and give info to Mexican whoever, It just seems its not in their best interest, there's always been something phony about the war on drugs in and around Mexico.
....with all of those men working overtime well they swore they would bring him down. But a parachute and a few hundred dollars is all that they've ever found.....The lawmen say if he is out there, someday they're gonna drag him in......
ahhh and the legend grows lol
And I almost won the 500 million dollar lottery. If he travels with 300 bodyguards, which I doubt and he likes his luxury, then he needs a hell of a big airplane or a lot of stretch limosines.
Wow! Nobamma. That is quite a story. hallucinate much? Don't tell me, shroons? Can't be peyote. I got is, LSD. Look at your right hand, is it moving in all kinds of weird shapes sizes?
Coockoo, Coockoo!
Should have called for a drone strike to soften the target.. maybe two or three...
Sounds like the CIA and Delta force plus possible Navy Seals are quietly doing some clandestine covert operations using probably drones to home in on his whereabouts like they did for Pablo Escobar.
If that's true, it's just a matter of time before they get this guy....No way the Mexicans get this guy without help...
Delta force is the best in the world when it comes to assymetrical clandestine warfare....
Israeli Mossad and Shayatet 13 are more of the assymetrical intelligence and warfare....
...and when both of these two have some doubts, the Green Berrets can come soften the targets; and if hell breaks lose....ya send in the big GUNS....the SEALS
naw - that is all fantasy - the fact is that everyone on BOTH sides of the borders is being paid off - there is too much money in drugs - the hillbillies in the US want their crank and hollywood its cocaine - too much demand. In addition, Mexicans are the fastest growing minority in the US - although the white women are safe, my understanding is that white women prefer the black man - in any case, the white man is losing out an the entire pic. :) ha ha kind of hilarious really - well, there is always the phillipines! u can get a women there for three cows and a goat - hence, all the fat disgusting guys with asain chicks in the west coast -
Damn George, do you really believe all the crap you just said?
Inbreeding should be against the law.
So this guy travels with a security guard of 300 men, stays in resorts, bounces around to only 15 different locations, and nobody can find him? Sounds like nobody WANTS to find him. Probably because if they did, they would have to justify hundreds of law enforcement jobs that would no longer be needed. Money breeds money, legal or not.
or that the 300 are primarily made up of Law Enforcement and government officials.
Are you kidding me, 'hundreds of law enforcement jobs that would no longer be needed'......come on, this one dies, everybody moves up one notch, another day, another million or so dollars. I'm willing to say this would not make a large impression on guys like this, unless say the top 45-50 were taken out at one time.
it would not make one bit of difference to take him out. If there is Demand for product. The suppliers will just get more deadly. And smarter at getting it here. We need to actually see this for what it REALLY is. Our problem with Dope fiends.
Take away the demand for a product and the Business and money with all that power Goes away.
Hell I don't think the Telecom Giant Felipe down there has more money than Guzman. Should have left It in Columbia
Well said, NIC! This guy not only supplies drugs to addicts, he supplies money/wealth/power to countries. I bet the US nets millions per year because of El Chapo.
But of course 1desperatelyseekingthetruth, when you have the number "1" consumer market in the world, someone needs to supply that market.
And I almost won the 500 million dollar lottery. If he travels with 300 bodyguards, which I doubt and he likes his luxury, then he needs a hell of a big airplane or a lot of stretch limosines.
Yeah, and we NEARLY got Bin Laden at Tora Bora. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
In related stories, Congress nearly balanced the budget, Obama nearly closed Guantanamo, and peace accords were nearly reached in Syria and Gaza.
This just in... news almost happened.
Yeah, and the big story of the day, I almost won the lottery.
Nearly nabbed?! Not much of a story here.
I think I would have asked for a few more details about finding random arms laying around someone's house...oh, they meant weapons...my bad.
So they nearly got him hey? I suppose that's like saying I nearly won the Mega Millions jackpot, only missed it by 5 numbers and the Mega Ball.
If the millions of idiot users would stop using, all the drug problems would go away. Too bad that will never happen.
You have a great point! If you wear a hat no one will see it.
If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.
If we would just legalize the crap, then the drug cartels would go away.
LOL, Denveright, That's Funny Shyite
HA! Then those Mexicans NAFTA Trucks could be loaded to the top with drugs and no Border Patrol would dare stop them. Please give your brain a chance.
Believe or not that's the truth, most agents in both sides are on the cartels payroll, just go to the Az. border and buy some local newspapers and you can see that happening everyday,because with all the technology the border patrol uses they still manage to pass by?? thats weird.....
Said the Mexican Government spokesman - Col. Maxwell Smart - "Missed him by that much".
Would you believe 30 seconds? How about 30 minutes?
call in the drones
They're all busy in Congress.
Or busy spying on Americans.
For every one El Chapo, one more pops up to succeed his predecessor to add many more causalities to the war on drugs .... Insanity continues in the futile fight to eradicate drugs and those who deal in them....
"Almost" caught him? Well, congratulations, Mexican police. For the record, I also "almost" had sex with Christina Hendricks, the only problem being that I didn't have sex with Christina Hendricks. So, about the same thing as what you're saying.
Christina Hendricks huh!? Now that's news...almost! Keep trying my friend!
Got her number?
A "near miss" is less expensive to El Chapo than a "complete miss"
I am waiting the "close the border" trolls to appear since the word Mexico is in the tittle. Oh, wait, my bad, I used Mexico, border and close in an unrelated story; I guess that made me the first. At any rate, I think all of this is simply running in circles hoping to reach the moon. The problem runs deeper than just capturing this guy. He is one of many that through modern traffickers history has risen and will ultimately fall just like Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 80s and 90s. It is a matter of reforming not only the political system, but the culture as a whole. Things will not change until this type of people are seen as heroes within the popular culture. It is a socio-cultural cultural as well as an economic and policy problem. Legalization is not enough; it has to be accompanied with a strong education system and widen opportunities for all of those able and willing. The root of the problem is disfranchisement, lack of opportunities to grow and live well but also the unwillingness of the Mexican people to follow their own law.
Naah. You're bad isn't using "Mexico border" and "close" in the same sentence. It is in your use of punctuation. The word Mexico is not in the tittle, but there is a tittle in the word Mexico.
dude, as Mexican descendent, I couldn't agree with you more, you hit the nail right on the head....unfortunately, the unwillingness of my people to follow our own laws is what's killing this country, we have great natural resources, great people and great history, and could be a first class country, but our people haven't decided to do so...we deserve the government we have...there is hope though, I'm just not sure if I'll still be alive to see that change...
Same with Barry, "I was almost born in Hawaii", Sotero.
Yeah. And I NEARLY went to Julliard!
fuuny. i wuz almost an astronaut
My girlfriend was almost pregnant.
He's just a lot faster than the feds. All coked up and all. We need DEA agents on meth. Then we have him.
Well, we have a former CRACKHEAD for President.
And a cokehead alcoholic before him.
Too funny....this guy looks like Jerry Lewis in the "Nutty Professor".....I don't think the Mexican police are looking too hard for him....
He probably has "money gernades". Heave a couple of those at the cops and they are stopped in their tracks....unable to move or remember anything.
Hiding next to the country's largest military academy. Where all the troops are mysteriously driving Bentleys. Mexico is almost as bad as Pakistan.
Instead of leaving cookies for santa. This guy leaves a few grand on the table by the door for the mexican police force. That probably stops the police in their tracks as they fight over how to divvy it up. While he slips out the back door and heads to his next hide out.
So why is this dirt bag on the Forbes list if his money is made through crime. Don't legitimize his fortune.
Legitimate or not, he has it.
money talks,mierdas como tu walks....
Good point Mark. Cuz I am sure the other 1000 people on the Forbes list are 100% legit.
I'm sure the ethics of some on Forbes list are questionable but there is no question on this guys ethics.
I nearly won a million dollar jackpot at the casino yesterday.
Many have suggested he was hiding out in the rugged mountains . Instead he was found a short distance from the country's main military academy. Sounds just like Bin Laden. cut off Money to Mexico, Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Afghanistan. We could give $50,000 to each homeless person in America cheaper than that. Fill up some of the empty houses. We are also bleeding money all over Central and South America. How much have we given to Greece? Lord all mighty this has got to stop.
Mexico doesnt want the US to get involved. All it would take is the same intel and elite force used to nail OBL and it would be over.
Yeah, Mexico doesn't want us to be involved, but they sure have their hand out for our money and we keep giving and giving, and they keep acting like we are the bad guy. I feel about Mexico the sameway I feel about the Middle East.....cut those guys off, put the oil and drugs on your Corn Flakes every morning for all I care, don't take my money, then stab me in the back when things in your country doesn't work out...
Martha~ if you stopped doing drugs Mexico wouldn't have a problem and there would be no Chapo's. There are way too many druggies in this country. It has to stop seriously!! There are inocent people dying in Mexico for your sins......
The thing is, if you are not aware of the history behind humans in general, is that people have always used drugs and always will. People seem to forget that drug laws are a recent addition to human history. In the U.S.A they are not even a century old yet. It is time to legalize and tax drugs, but that won't ever happen anytime soon I'm sure. You want to know why I think this is the solution? Because of the history of alcohol prohibition. Organized crime got out of control then took a major blow with the coming and going of alcohol prohibition. Nobody is forcing anybody to use drugs (except perhaps the legal drug industry). The drug war is a moral war started by "modern crusaders". Too bad more people have been killed from the moral crusades in the name of ones god throughout history then anything remotely related to drugs.
No one wants him captured!!! If he gets captured, Mexico alone would lose millions in revenue. The good ol druggie U.S.A. would lose about a billion in income. No, no one really wants him caught! All Calderon wants is to have many people killed, so he can say, "look, i hired all these people to defend you from all this violence, sorry you and you mother got killed too". Justification! That is all. Hillary knew he was there at the hotel! She probably went there to bring back the suitcase full of money to launder, eh? (LOL) No, no one person wants him caught, he is worth too much!
Given time I think they may get their man. Living in plain sight seems to be the norm. I am all for keeping our dollars and putting them to better use.