History Daily - The Capture of Drug Lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

January 8, 2016. After decades of evading the authorities, drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is arrested for the third and final time.  This episode originally aired in 2024. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

Salku X, tapamme yet. Visi number, five vhietta, Arvauksia, Patheria. Palkintona X-Peng G-K-Sacko, Towsin'em-Ot,

Towsin'emps, Pover.P.5. Kautta, X. Don't get it's the early hours of January 8th, 2016, in Los Mochi's, a city in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. Inside a safe house, drug lord Joaquin Guzman snaps awake at the sound of shouting.

Adrenaline floods through his body. He creeps toward a window to look outside. What a burst of gunfire makes him jump back. With a sinking feeling, Joaquin realizes that the police have finally caught up with him. But fortunately, he has a plan. Joaquin yanks open a door to the closet. There, and set into the floor, is a hatch

that leads to a sewer. Before he descends into the dark tunnel, Joaquin commands one of his lieutenants, Orso Yvon Gostolam, to come with him. The two men quickly climb down a ladder, close the hatch, and start running through the dirty water. When Joaquin judges that they've run far enough, he and Orso climb out of the sewer and emerge near the city center. Orso approaches a cab driver, draws a gun, and commands the driver to get out. Then Orso and Joaquin jump in, speed off. happy to have made an escape. For more than 20 years,

Joaquin Guzman has been Mexico's most notorious criminal, although many know him better by his nickname, El Chapo. Under Joaquin's leadership, the Sinaloa drug cartel has become the wealthiest criminal organization in Mexico. And as Joaquin speeds away from Los Mochi's in a stolen car, he's confident that he's escaped the latest raid unscathed. But the police are already on his tail. Before the day is out, authorities will track him down, and after years of ruling the illegal

narcotics trade, the criminal career of Joaquin El Chapo Guzma, will finally come to an end when he's arrested for the third and final time on January 8, 2016. Hey, a quick note about the live show. I know quite a lot of you listen with your kids, and I love that. The messages I get about how History Daily has ignited a love of history or sparked conversations or just become a carpool ritual really make me feel good. So I'm doing all I can to make the live tour appropriate for all ages, hopefully avoiding school nights and starting early in the evening, because I know quite a few adults that would appreciate that too.

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Palkintona X-Peng G-K-S Sacko, Towsin-Octo, 10-weekcua' time to retka-corder Pover.5-coutta-X. Don't jay-cudist. From Noisor and Airship,

I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day. this podcast every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is January 8, 2016, the capture of drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. It's November 22nd, 1993 at the Puente Grande Maximum Security Prison in Halisco, Mexico, 23 years before Joaquin Guzman will flee a police raid on his safe house. Prison guards firmly grip Joaquin's arms as they lead him to a cell.

Joaquin has just been given a 20-year sentence for drug trafficking and bribery. It's a huge fall from grace for a man who was rising rapidly in Mexico's criminal underworld. Since the 1980s, Joaquin has been a mid-level operative at the Sinaloa drug cartel, which for the last four years has been embroiled in a turf war with a rival drug-running operation, the Tijuana Cartel. Six months ago, the vicious conflict reached a new low, when Tijuana gunmen fired dozens of shots into what they thought was Joaquin's car.

But the occupant was actually the innocent Archbishop of Guadalajara. After this, Joaquin fled abroad to avoid the crackdown on organized crime that followed the Archbishop's death, but Joaquin was soon recognized and arrested in Guatemala. Now he's spending his first night behind bars as a convicted criminal. And as the guards lock him into his cell, Joaquin vows that nothing, not even this maximum security prison, will hold him back. Joaquin knows from his experience running a drug operation that there's always somebody willing to accept a bribe, and a maximum security prison is no different. So over the next year, Waukeen identifies the prison guards

who are most likely to accept his advances. He gives him cash and luxury goods in exchange for lenient treatment. The guards even turn a blind eye to Wachene running his drug-smuggling enterprise from his jail cell. And by 1995, two years and to his 20-year sentence, Joaquin has gained so much influence that he's named the head of the Sinaloa cartel. But Joaquin's comfortable existence in prison comes to an end six years later in 2001 when the Supreme Court of Mexico makes a new ruling that allows convicts like Joaquin to be extradited to the United States to face drug charges. Being sent to a U.S. prison would endanger Joaquin's control of the Sinaloa cartel,

so Joaquin makes a decision. decision. He's going to break out of jail. Luckily for him, he's already got the helpers he needs in his pocket. With the assistance of several bribed prison guards, Joaquin escapes from the maximum security prison that's been his home for years. Exactly how Joaquin gets out is unclear. Some claim he was smuggled out in a laundry hamper. Others say he simply walked out as guards looked the other way. Whatever the case, Joaquin regains his freedom. But he's still a fugitive on the run, so Joaquin keeps a low profile and is rarely seen in public. While behind the scenes, he continues to rule the Sinaloa cartel with an iron fist. He orders the assassination of rival

drug lords. Members of other cartels are gunned down in the streets. Mexican police and investigators who get too close are also killed, and in total, tens of thousands of people are murdered as a result of Joaquin's ruthless tactics, and the Sinaloa cartel becomes the de facto leader in the drug trade, making a fortune smuggling methamphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine across the border to the United States. But the more powerful the Sinaloa cartel becomes, the more Joaquin is seen as a threat by both the Mexican and United States governments. In 2004, the U.S. designates Joaquin as their number one target in the war on drugs, offering a $5 million reward for any information leading to his arrest. But the multimillion dollar bounty does little to

stop the Sinaloa cartel from dominating the drug trade. By 2009, Waukeen's net worth is estimated to be $1 billion. And the kingpin seems untouchable, with Mexican police having no idea where he's hiding out. So over the next few years, Waukeen will continue to elude the clutches of law enforcement. And the more the authorities escalate their efforts, the more daring Joaquin will become in his methods of escape. But eventually, Waukeen's overconfidence will put him behind bars again. D.C., four years before Joaquin Guzman will be captured. Adam Zubin, the American Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, stands before a

packed room of journalists and clears his throat. He's used to speaking to reporters, but not a crowd of this size. Before him a teeming mass of media clamor for new information about the notorious drug lord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. For over a decade, drug enforcement agencies in both Mexico and the United States have tried and failed to disarmes. dismantle the Sinaloa drug cartel. And while law enforcement agencies struggled to find the cartel boss, Joaquin's influence and power only increased further. And for many Mexicans,

Joaquin's ability to evade capture turned him into a sort of folk hero. He became the subject of songs and ballads, and many see him as a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing money from the rich and spending it in local communities. But today, Director Zubin hopes to tip the balance back toward the government. Director Zubin circulates a press release containing Joaquin's mugshot, his identifying features, and a long list of his crimes. Zubin emphasizes the impact of illegal drug smuggling on both the United States and Mexico. He follows up with a public appeal for any information about Joaquin's whereabouts, and Director Zubin is willing to pay for a good lead.

Clastered over the press release is the life-changing amount of $7 million available for anyone who contributes to Joaquin's arrest. But Director Zubin isn't just going after Joaquin. To put more pressure on the Sinaloa cartel, Zubin announces that four other key members of Joaquin's organization have been identified and placed under sanctions using the Kingpin Act. This relatively new law allows the U.S. government to freeze the assets of known members of criminal organizations. And with this, Director Zubin hopes to hinder the operation of the Sinaloa cartel while simultaneously forcing Joaquin to keep an even lower profile.

And indeed, following Director Zubin's public appeal, Joaquin stays out of sight, hiding in Sinaloa safehouses in the Sierra Madre Mountains, only moving between them in heavily guarded, armored cars. But although pressure from the United States forces Joaquin into deeper hiding, it does little to stop the Sinaloa cartel's dominance of narcotics trade, and the amount of drugs crossing the border continues to increase. But after two years spent in isolated safehouses, Waukeen gets restless. Tired of the constant drudgery of life in hiding,

Joaquin travels to the beach town of Mazatlan to visit family. There, Mexican Marines and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raid Joaquin's ex-wife's house, but Joaquin nearly escapes, finding another hiding place in Mazatlan. Six days later, police received new intelligence that Joaquin is staying at a beachfront hotel, and this time, their second raid is successful.

Joaquin is apprehended and taken to another maximum security prison in Mexico to a way trial. But the wheels of justice turned slowly, and over the course of the next year, operatives from Joaquin Sinaloa cartel dig a tunnel from a construction site one mile away. They evade prison authorities by digging over 10 yards underground and by breaking into Joaquin's cell underneath the shower, the only place not covered by security cameras. On the evening of July 11, 2015, Joaquin climbs down a ladder and rides a motorcycle through the escape tunnel to freedom. Wachin El Chapo Guzman's second breakout from a maximum security prison

sparked a nationwide manhunt. Wakene goes back into hiding, but he takes more risks than before. He sits for an interview with Hollywood actor Sean Penn, and he escapes a raid on a Sinaloa mountain ranch only because a helicopter pilot chooses not to fire on him out of fear of hitting women and children. But eventually, Joaquin's luck will run out. While both Mexico and the United States will put vast resources into his capture, it will be a faulty car engine that will ultimately bring down the world's most powerful drug trafficker. Tapam we again, vipera, viperts, arvokes, and poutelieu, powering. Palkintona X-G-QSacko, Sacko, Towsinomaxe.

10-weekquo-a-a-rata-counterer-counterer.com. It's the early hours of January 8, 2016, in Los Mochi's Mexico. A Mexican Marine officer stealthily approaches a suspected Sinaloa safe house. The officer moves as quietly as possible. He doesn't want to ruin the best lead the authorities have had in their search for the infamous El Chapo. Seven months ago, Watkin escaped prison a second time. Agents from 22 different departments in the Mexican and U.S. governments have tried to locate him to no avail until today. Only a few hours ago, agents spotted Joaquin driving to a safehouse in a pickup truck.

This safe house was previously investigated, and the authorities know it contains a secret escape tunnel, but they don't know exactly where it leads. So as the Mexican Marine officer creeps toward the safe house, he hopes to get inside with his men and arrest Joaquin before he can run to the tunnel. But unfortunately, a Sinaloa guard spots one of the Marines. Gunfire shatter is the silence of night, and with the element of surprise gone, the officer is forced to act fast. He leaves a small team of Marines to pin down the gunmen inside the safe house, but he splits off another group and holds them in reserve, hoping to intercept Joaquin when he emerges from the tunnel, wherever that might be. And within minutes, the officer hears over the radio that a nearby

cab driver has had his car stolen. The Marines race to the scene where they soon discover that Joaquin and his accomplice, or so Yvonne Gostoman, have stolen another car. But the Marines get a lucky break. The second stolen vehicle has an engine problem, and Joaquin doesn't get far. And within minutes, Mexican police catch up to Joaquin and Orso and arrest them both. Later, Joaquin is extradited to the United States and charged with a litany of crimes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and conspiracy to murder. After a three-month trial, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is convicted on all counts

and sentenced to life in prison in a Colorado Supermax prison, where he remains today, following his third and final capture by Mexican and American authorities on January 8, 2016. Next, on History Daily, January 9, 1957, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns in the fallout from Britain's failed Suez crisis intervention. From Noisor and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Mohamed Shazim, sound design by Malay Bach, music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written and research by Georgia Hampton. Executive producers are Alexander Curry Buckner for airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser. Five number, five vhietta, arvokesia, poutel, poweria. Palkintona, X-B-G-6, Sacko, Towsin'Omack. Towsin'omaxi. 10-week-a-a-a-a-a-raise code in aozoiteess Power.5-X. Don't jay-kydhidist.