US Attorney General Eric Holder has hailed a ‘landmark achievement’ for Mexico after the arrest of the world’s most wanted drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman.
The United States had offered a USD 5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Guzman, who was captured by Mexican marines in the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan on Saturday, putting an end to a 13-year manhunt.
The arrest stemming from US-Mexican coordination dealt a blow to the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico’s biggest drug-trafficking organisation, a blood-stained empire that stretches along the Pacific coast and smuggles drugs over the border to the US, as well as to Europe and Asia.
Holder welcomed the capture of the man blamed for much of the drug violence that has plagued Mexico for years as a “landmark achievement, and a victory for the citizens of both Mexico and the United States.”
“We are pleased that we were able to work effectively with Mexico through the cooperative relationship that US law enforcement agencies have with their Mexican counterparts,” said Holder.