Lucio R. Borderland Beat from Yahoo and NBC News and various Mexican outlets identified in the body of this post
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Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the fugitive drug lord, is believed to be suffering from injuries to his leg and face as he continues to evade Mexican authorities.
The Mexican Marines zeroed in last week on the Sinaloa cartel kingpin after U.S. drug agents intercepted cell phone signals suggesting "El Chapo" was hiding at a ranch near Cosala in the rugged Sierra Madre mountains in western Mexico, according to three sources with knowledge of the operation.
The massive manhunt continues amid new revelations about Guzman's escape from a maximum-security prison in Altiplano in July.
The massive manhunt continues amid new revelations about Guzman's escape from a maximum-security prison in Altiplano in July.
Marines raided the ranch in helicopters, but were forced to turn back after taking fire from suspected Guzman security forces.
The Marines later entered the camp on foot and discovered cell phones, medication and two-way radios, but Guzman and his accomplices are believed to have fled on ATVs.
Authorities gave chase and believed to have encircled the fugitive within a two-mile radius. But a week and a half after the raid, officials are losing hope that Guzman's capture is imminent.
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From El Universal, El Debate, Vanguardia:
United States located Chapo in sierra of Sinaloa and Durango; Cosalá shootings using drones
With shared intelligence between US federal agents with their counterparts in Mexico reported the interception of communications drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman on a ranch in the mountainous area of the golden triangle region -the border shared between Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Durango.
Locating the capo now involves the deployment of drones in the so-called golden triangle.
Marina besieges 13 mountain communities
The governor of Sinaloa, Mario López Valdez, confirmed that the military operations in the mountainous area of the state in northwestern Mexico and neighboring Durango aim to capture Guzman Loera.
"The military personnel working in the area have been sent from Mexico City", Lopez told reporters Wednesday.
He added that around 13 communities in the region have been besieged by members of the Marina.
The military operations and the crossfire have forced the displacement of more than 300 people in Cosalá, said the mayor of the border town of Sinaloa with Durango.
The Sinaloa governor confirmed support for the displaced, who are being served by the municipal government and the state system for Integral Family Development (DIF).
Chapo evaded Marina twice
Joaquin Guzman Loera is hiding in the Sierra Madre Occidental, on the border of Durango and Sinaloa, where he evaded the Marina on two occasions.
According to the newspaper Reforma , federal government sources confirmed that the operations that for 2 weeks in Tamazula, Durango, was to capture the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Since his escape on July 11, the Marina has been close to capturing Guzman Loera on July 30 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and just last Saturday, in Tamazula.
Reforma reports this:
First video: During an operation in the limits of the Sierra de Tamazula and Cosalá, Marine citizens remained besieged for three days. Saturday night they were rescued and took them to a safe area of Cosalá.
Reforma reports this:
On July 30, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in coordination with the Mexican Marina (navy) and the Center for Investigation and National Security (Cisen), obtained information advising that "El Chapo" would leave the Sierra to visit people in Los Mochis.
From Mexico City, the Marina mobilized a group of Special Forces to a nearby rural area on a road in Los Mochis. The data was positive, but Guzman evaded capture.
Next, on September 7th Marina was sent to the capital of Durango for aerial patrols, but this time the goal was not Guzman, but "El Mayo" Zambada.
No indications of a possible El "Chapo" location was again seen until October 6th, when coordination of the DEA, Marina and a Cisen using communication interception of DEA, pinpointed his possible location in Tamazula, Durango.
Official sources claimed that by eavesdropping satellite communications, identified six "intermediaries" of Guzman Loera and "El Mayo" Zambada who were in the middle of the sierra, with the mission to bring supplies to "El Chapo".
The six people who are detected in the sierra, were responsible for coordinating financial operations and drug trafficking for Guzmán,
Marina elements of the Elite Parachute, Rifle Battalion, were immediately mobilized to Acachuane, Palo Verde, Los Limones and El Venado, in Duarango. Marina aircraft then carried the men to isolated areas of the sierras.
Without specifying details, they said that last Saturday Guzman escaped from the Marina operation in the mountain landscape of Tamazula.
First video: During an operation in the limits of the Sierra de Tamazula and Cosalá, Marine citizens remained besieged for three days. Saturday night they were rescued and took them to a safe area of Cosalá.