Mexico’s ‘El Chapo’ hurt in yet another capture bid

Joaquin Guzman thought to have injured a leg and his face evading police in Mexican mountains

Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is believed to have been injured evading police in the mountains of north-western Mexico, according to officials.

Guzman is thought to have injured a leg and his face in making yet another escape from the authorities after tunnelling out of a maximum security prison in July.

Mexico’s security cabinet provided no details on when or where the operation to recapture Guzman took place, but it said efforts have been continuing since his daring escape from his cell in the jail in Almoloya de Juarez, near Toluca.

The government cited information-sharing with international agencies for leading its hunt for Guzman to north-western Mexico.

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Guzman evaded capture for years in the rugged mountains of Sinaloa state, and had previously escaped from another maximum security prison in 2001.

Meanwhile, soldiers have captured the purported leader of a Gulf Cartel faction in the city of Matamoros, close to the Texas border the state government said.

Tamaulipas state's co-ordinating group said Angel Eduardo Prado Rodriguez, alias "Ciclon 7", was detained by soldiers. The statement said Prado Rodriguez was the last of 15 priority targets in the state's security plan.

Prado Rodriguez allegedly led the Ciclones, or Cyclones, faction of the Gulf Cartel which has been locked in a violent power struggle with the Metros faction based in the border city of Reynosa.

Nora Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the city government, said mayor Leticia Salazar had requested increased federal and military security in case the arrest led to more violence.

The Gulf Cartel has fragmented into various competing factions in recent years, but together they control much of the drug and human trafficking along the border with the southern-most part of Texas.

Government data show that the number of homicides in the state is down from last year. Between January and August there were 393 killings recorded, compared with 464 during the same period of 2014.

PA