Watch the dramatic raid on El Chapo's hideout
GoPro footage has been released showing Friday's "Operation Black Swan," the raid that ended in the capture of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Guzman is the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which is estimated to be responsible for one-quarter of the illegal drugs that enter the United States from Mexico, ABC News reports. He escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico City in July, and authorities have been on the hunt ever since. The Mexican show Primero Noticias says after receiving a tip that Guzman was sleeping at a home in Los Mochis, the raid was set for Friday. At 4:40 a.m., 17 Mexican Marines arrived at the house, and were met by 12 armed guards inside. They went from room to room, clearing the house, and detained two men found in a bedroom and two women discovered in a bathroom.
Five armed guards were killed, Primero Noticias reports, and after the Marines determined Guzman's room was downstairs, they started to look for secret passageways. Behind a mirror, they found an escape tunnel that led to an access door to the city sewage system. Authorities estimate he had a 20 minute head start, and Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez said Guzman and his lieutenant stole two cars after emerging from a manhole cover; they were eventually stopped by Mexican Federal Police driving down the highway. Watch the intense raid footage in the video below. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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