AT 4.40AM IN a central neighborhood of the Pacific coast city of Los Mochis, 17 Mexican marines began their assault on a safe house thinking there was a good chance Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was inside. The operation was dubbed “black swan.”
One marine was wounded by gunfire almost immediately and remained outside the interior front door while his comrades slowly advanced inside behind lobbed grenades and heavy fire, according to video from the marines’ helmet cameras released by Mexico’s government.
A marine involved in the assault who gave a tour of the house to a reporter from the Mexican network Televisa said there were more people inside than expected and they were more heavily armed, including with rocket-propelled grenades and .50 caliber sniper rifles.
Attorney general Arely Gomez told local radio that people in the house had ordered food for 13 people the night before the raid.
One gunman was killed in the main room just inside a front door riddled with bullet holes. On a tour by an Associated Press photographer, the interior of the house looked much the same with bullet holes pocking its white concrete walls. Clothing and food — a wheel of cheese, lots of cans — were scattered throughout, beds were tossed. Blood was smeared on the walls.
The marines secured the downstairs rooms first.
As they prepared to go upstairs a marine saw a man at the top of the stairs preparing to fire a rocket-propelled grenade. The marine hit the weapon with a couple shots causing the gunman to toss it, the marine guide said in the Televisa interview.
The wall above the stairs was particularly damaged by gunfire as gunmen tried to keep the marines from advancing.
Upstairs the marines found two women in a bathroom and two men in a room with a large television.
The home had four bedrooms and five bathrooms. On one upstairs bed were four DVDs from the series La Reina del Sur, starring Kate del Castillo, the Mexican actress who put Guzman in contact with the American actor Sean Penn.
On a roof patio marines found tossed weapons and a ladder leading to a higher roof. It took about 15 minutes to secure the house. Then the marines followed the attackers across rooftops. Four more gunmen were killed in this pursuit.
There had been no sighting of Guzman.
Knowing Guzman’s predilection for tunnels, the marines began looking for an opening. Beside a ground floor bedroom littered with clothing, marines entered a walk-in closet and found an unusual panel behind a mirror. Guides showed the AP how a lever hidden behind a ceiling light operated a mechanism opening a door behind the mirror.
It led to a set of descending stairs.
A six-foot tall tunnel complete with lighting, wood-paneled walls and a concrete floor led to more stairs and then a metal hatch opened into the city’s storm sewer.
Guzman and his security chief traveled several blocks through the meter-tall storm sewer before popping out in the middle of an intersection. They stole a car, drove a bit, then stole another.
Federal police eventually found them on a highway outside of town and Guzman’s flight ended six months after his stunning escape from the same maximum security prison where he now sits.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say