D.E.A. in Disguise: Who Really Arrested El Chapo?

In the wake of drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sensational escape from Mexican prison on July 11, explosive new allegations have emerged about the circumstances of the February 2014 arrest in the resort town of Mazatlán that landed him behind bars. For more than a year, the official story of El Chapo’s arrest has placed elite Mexican marines at the head of the operation, with U.S. federal agencies playing a crucial intelligence support role. However, a new report citing U.S. government sources claims that account is false. According to leading Mexican investigative newsmagazine Proceso, the agents who arrested Guzmán weren’t Mexican at all — they were Americans, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service, dressed as Mexican marines, working alongside one or more unidentified U.S. intelligence agencies. Government officials from Mexico and the U.S. have yet to dispute the accuracy of the story, published in the magazine’s July 18 issue...more