Category Archives: Illegal Immigration

Facts of the Guzman Re-Capture, Warning Graphic

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Sean Penn is gonna make a movie? He used a Mexican actress as the go-between? Signals intelligence and cell (burn) phone tracking? Yes all of those but much more.

The region where el Chapo Guzman lives is well protected by all other residents in the area, they are on the Guzman payroll. We have known for years his location, at issue was crafting a well organized and well trained military style operation to re-capture him. There is some chatter that finally too, Mexico will extradite Guzman to the United States, but that could take at least a year. What is worse, Guzman was not taken to another prison with higher security but rather back to the very prison from which he escaped. What????

So, what role did the United States play in this recent capture of Guzman? A BIG one.

JSOC’s Secretive Delta Force Operators on the Ground for El Chapo Capture

Delta Force Operators on the Ground for El Chapo Capture

Murphy/SofRep: Mexico’s most notorious drug lord, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, was recaptured following an intense firefight between Mexican Marines and Chapo’s goons in Sinaloa, Mexico, last Friday. Although Mexican officials claimed that the entire operation to recapture El Chapo after he escaped from prison for the second time was planned and executed by Mexico, multiple sources report to SOFREP that American law enforcement officers and JSOC operators were involved in the mission.

The operation, dubbed “Black Swan” by the Mexican government, was actually targeting Chapo’s lead sicario (assassin) but came across the cartel leader by chance. The Mexican Marines stormed the house, and in the ensuing firefight five cartel gunmen were killed and six were injured. One Marine was also injured. During the firefight, Chapo escaped through a series of tunnels and then tried to flee in a stolen vehicle. Federal agents caught sight of him and arrested him on the spot. According to one account, the arresting agents had not even been aware of the larger mission being carried out in the area by Mexican Marines. Arresting Chapo was simply a chance encounter, a stroke of good luck.

Rumors of American special operations personnel roaming around the badlands of Mexico have been floating around for well over a decade at this point, but the idea of bearded, ball cap- and Oakley-wearing American soldiers south of the border has been more fiction than fact. JSOC maintained a small analysis cell in Mexico, but the Mexican government has been extremely wary of an American military presence on the ground. Much of this has to do with fears of neocolonialism, as well as Latin American machismo—insecurity over the fact that Mexico cannot manage its own internal affairs.

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(Pics of the recent raid that resulted in the capture of El Chapo)

While America’s so-called “war on drugs” is perhaps at an all-time low socially and politically, with our focus on the Middle East, the capture of El Chapo is still a tactical win for the United States, even if it only gets us incrementally closer to securing the rule of law in Mexico.

In the lead for the capture were the Mexican Marines, who are the go-to preferred force for counter-drug cartel operations in a country where public officials are often hopelessly corrupt. It is interesting to see how, around 2006 or 2007, the Mexican Marines suddenly became very effective at direct-action (DA) raids. Such raids were responsible for capturing and killing high-value targets (HVTs), causing speculation that the Marines were receiving a little help from their North American neighbors. America has also leveraged its significant signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities to help the Mexican authorities track down drug cartel leaders.

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(Another Chapo goon killed in the raid that resulted in his capture)

In regards to the latest El Chapo capture, SOFREP has been told that it was actually the U.S. Marshals who had an important role in tracking down the drug lord. Also on the ground was the U.S. Army’s elite counterterrorism unit, Delta Force. Operators from Delta served as tactical advisors but did not directly participate in the operation.

This type of arrangement is hardly unprecedented, as Delta also worked in the shadows during the search for, and eventual killing of, Pablo Escabar in Colombia. They’ve also served in advisory capacities during hostage-rescue missions in places as diverse as Sudan and Peru. Delta Force has also remained behind the scenes in the capture of other HVTs, from Manuel Noriega in Panama during the 1989 invasion, to the killing of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Iraq in 2003. Also worth noting is the unit’s role in tracking down and arresting Bosnian war criminals in the 1990s.

Although Delta had some level of involvement in the operation, their presence is probably less interesting than many would assume.  Law enforcement agencies often request the presence of Delta operators as advisors to sensitive operations.  These operators are often there putting in face time to appease the request of a federal agency, but may have little if any actual participation in the planning and execution of events.  Such was the case when Delta was asked to consult on the Waco stand-off between the ATF, FBI, and the Branch Davidians in 1993.  Law enforcement agencies are said to regard the presence of a JSOC operator as a sort of lucky talisman.

The good news is that it is now unlikely that Chapo will be escaping from prison a third time as the Mexican government is signaling that he will be extradited to the United States to face prosecution.  When the black Chinook comes for Chapo, we will know that he will finally face the justice that he has long evaded.

 

 

 

 

ISIS in the Caribbean and Michelle’s SOTU Guest, Sigh

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Top US General Offers Warning on IS Fighters in Caribbean

PENTAGON—

VoA: A top U.S. general is concerned that a small number of motivated Islamic State fighters could commit acts of terror in Caribbean nations.

General John Kelly, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, told reporters Friday at the Pentagon that about 150 Islamic extremists left the Caribbean region to join Islamic State fighters in the Middle East last year, about 50 more than in the previous year.

However, he said, the biggest threat might not be the extremists who leave to train and fight with the Islamic State, but the ones who stay behind.

Kelly said Islamic extremist groups seem to have a new message for would-be jihadists.

“And that [message] is, ‘Rather than coming here to Syria, why don’t you just stay at home and do San Bernardino or do Boston or do Fort Hood?’ ” the general said, referring to attacks in the U.S. perpetrated by Muslims sympathetic to extremist groups. As recently as Thursday, a gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State ambushed a police officer as he sat in his car in Philadelphia.

“They [Caribbean nations] don’t have an FBI, they don’t have law enforcement like we do,” Kelly said, adding that the U.S. military provides as much information as it can to agencies in those countries.

Iraq, Afghanistan

When asked about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kelly praised recent comments made to USA Today by General John Campbell, commander of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission, that the president should delay the drawdown of U.S. troops and maintain the current force of 9,800 because of the volatile security situation in Afghanistan.

He also appeared to pointedly disagree with the U.S. decision to withdraw all troops in Iraq by the end of 2011, telling a reporter there were “other ways to have done it.”

“I believe this war stuff is hard, and it’s not for the untrained and the unadvised,” he said.

Kelly, who served in Iraq’s Anbar province, said the removal of U.S. troops took away vital mentors the Iraqi army needed as it continued to develop.

“The equipment is important, but it doesn’t come close to having people who are just with them,” he said.

Kelly, a Marine, said there would eventually be “pressure” to lower standards for women so more of them could advance in combat roles, such as the Marine infantry and the Army Rangers.

Last year, the Marine Corps asked that certain combat jobs remain closed to women, but Defense Secretary Ash Carter overruled the request.

Pentagon officials have vowed that standards for those jobs will not be lowered.

***

Meanwhile, who will be Michelle Obama’s guest at the State of the Union address? Whoa….

Syrian refugee among first lady’s guests for State of Union

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Syrian scientist stricken with cancer and seeking a new start for his family in Michigan will represent Syrian refugees as a guest of first lady Michelle Obama for the president’s final State of the Union address.

President Barack Obama has committed to accepting an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees, but some Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates are critical of the expansion. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, for example, noted the recent arrest of two Iraqi refugees. During an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, Cruz emphasized that they came to the United States “using the same vetting that President Obama wants us to trust with Syrian refugees.”

Refaai Hamo, his son and three daughters landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in December, anxious to rebuild their lives. Hamo fled to Turkey from Syria after a missile attack killed his wife and one other daughter. Hamo was profiled on the popular photo blog Humans of New York and identified as “The Scientist.”

The White House said Sunday that Hamo will be among about 20 guests who will sit near the first lady on Tuesday. The guests include several veterans and service members, including one of the three Americans who thwarted a terrorist attack aboard a Paris-bound train.

Those on the guest list will highlight issues that Obama has attempted to prioritize during his tenure, such as expanded health insurance coverage, and issues that he hopes to work on during his final year, such as criminal justice reform. The guest list includes a California man whose partner was killed in the San Bernardino attack, the first female Army Reserve officer to graduate from the Army’s elite Ranger School and a plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that found same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. One seat will be empty, to represent the victims of gun violence.

Obama read about Hamo’s story last month. His cancer had gone untreated because he lacked health insurance. The actor, Ed Norton, set up for the Hamo family an online fundraising campaign that raised more than $450,000. The White House described Hamo as living the kind of life in Syria that is associated with the American dream. He married his college sweetheart, and they built a life together before a missile tore through the complex he helped design and where his family lived.

Obama told Hamo through a Facebook posting that, “Yes, you can still make a difference in the world, and we’re proud that you’ll pursue your dreams here. Welcome to your new home. You’re part of what makes America great.”

Other guests include:

— Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone of Sacramento, California, who, along with Anthony Sadler and U.S. Army Specialist Alex Skarlatos, stopped a man from opening fire on passengers aboard a crowded Paris-bound train.

— Oscar Vazquez of Fort Worth, Texas, a veteran who came to the U.S. as a child from Mexico, and now works as a business analyst and advocate for Latino students.

— Sue Ellen Allen of Scottsdale Arizona, co-founder of a nonprofit that helps former prisoners re-enter society.

Edward Archer Ambush to Kill Philly Police Officer

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In the name of the Koran and in solidarity with ISIS, Edward Archer attempted to kill the officer in an ambush. He used a stolen police 9mm weapon, stolen in 2013 and unloaded the entire magazine. The officer, Jesse Hartnett took 3 gunshot wounds into his arm, was able to immediately give chase and to shoot Archer when other officers soon arrived on the scene.

Archer has a deep history and the prosecutor has chosen not to prosecute on several previous criminal acts. The other question is , did he become radicalized with militant inspired sympathies when he was in fact doing time in prison.

According to court records, he was scheduled to be sentenced Monday in a Delaware County traffic-accident case. He was found guilty in a November non-jury trial of forging documents, careless driving, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and related offenses.

Judge Richard Cappelli recalled that Archer defended himself. “He didn’t want the public defender,” Cappelli added, because Archer said that the the public defender didn’t’ believe his story.

In Philadelphia, he was sentenced in March to nine to 23 months in jail and two years probation in an assault case. He was immediately paroled. Read much more here.

Officer Hartnett was on the force for 5 years and enlisted in the Coast Guard directly after 9/11. He will require several surgeries and will likely have long term nerve damage.

The shooter, Archer, age 30 has a long record:

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A frame grab of the attempted killing of officer Jesse Hartnett during a press conference at Police Headquarters on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.

PhillyInquirer: While not classifying the shooting as a terrorist attack, police said Friday that the man arrested after shooting and wounding a police officer in an ambush in West Philadelphia Thursday night confessed he acted “in the name of Islam.”

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the weapon used to wound Officer Jesse Hartnett was a police 9mm semiautomatic pistol stolen in 2013 from an officer’s home.

Capt. James Clark, homicide unit commander, said suspect Edward Archer told detectives: “I follow Allah. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State. That is why I did what I did.”

“He confessed to committing this act in the name of Islam,” Ross said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

He said the suspect told detectives he believed police enforced laws counter to Islam.

Archer’s mother has indicated that he is mentally ill and Ross said investigators do not know yet if the suspect was indeed radicalized or tied to terrorism.Friday afternoon, police and agents with the FBI’s Terrorism Task Force searched a house in Yeadon and another location in West Philadelphia, both associated with Archer.

Investigators are also scouring Archer’s Internet activity to see if he may have had contact with ISIS members or other radical Islamic groups. A law enforcement source said Friday that, so far, they had not found any record that Archer had contact with known terrorism suspects. Federal authorities are also looking into a trip Archer took to Egypt in 2012, that source said.

“We will see where the investigation leads us,” said Ross, adding that officers were executing search warrants.

Mayor Kenney stressed that whatever the gunman’s motive, it had “nothing to do” with Islam.

Jacob Bender, executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said more investigation is needed.

“We need more information,” Bender said. “Was he in contact with any bona fide terrorist or anything like that? We don’t know.”

He said Archer’s name was not immediately familiar to some of the imams with whom he spoke Friday morning.

Echoing statements by Kenney and other officials, Bender said: “This should not be seen as representative of Muslims or the faith of Islam.”

Hartnett was wounded about 11:40 p.m. Thursday when a gunman unloaded a semiautomatic pistol into the officer’s marked cruiser at 60th and Spruce Streets, authorities said.

Hartnett, 33, was hit three times in the arm and taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition but faces a long recovery, authorities said.

Archer, 30, of Yeadon, was wounded by return fire from Harnett and taken into custody after attempting to flee, police said. Officers recovered a black, 9mm semiautomatic pistol, its slide locked to the rear.

The shooter in the attack is seen wearing a long white robe over dark pants on surveillance video, but Ross said he did not know if it was Muslim garb.

The FBI has been notified of the attack, but the agency Philadelphia Police Department remains the lead in the investigation.

The shooting came on Kenney’s and Ross’ first week in their jobs and both rushed to the hospital after the shooting.

Ross said the officer was driving north on 60th Street when the gunman jumped out and strode toward the police cruiser, firing 13 times and pocking the cruiser with bullets before shooting into the driver’s side window.

Wounded three times in the left arm, Hartnett got out of the car and chased his assailant, squeezing off three rounds and hitting the suspect in the buttocks, police said.

Officers caught Archer on the 6000 block of Delancey Street. He was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania before being taken to Police Headquarters for questioning.

Neighbors said they heard a torrent of gunfire from the street, and then police sirens and helicopters as officers from around the city rushed to the scene.

“There were tons and tons of police, coming from every direction,” said Tyesha Fisher, 36, who lives at 60th and Spruce Streets, feet from where authorities say Archer opened fire.

Of Hartnett, Ross said: “The bravery he demonstrated was absolutely remarkable.”

He repeatedly expressed surprise that the officer survived.

“This guy tried to execute the police officer,” the commissioner said early Friday morning.

The officer suffered a broken arm and nerve damage and has “a lot of recovery ahead of him,” Ross said.

Kenney said the shooting showed the sacrifices officers make and highlighted the city’s gun-violence problem.

“There are too many guns on our streets,” putting both police and civilians in harm’s way, he said.

Hartnett’s father, Robert Hartnett, 58, called his son “a very quality young man.”

“He has good determination and he’s always wanted to help people and be a policeman,” the elder Hartnett said.

It was around midnight that police officers arrived at Robert Hartnett’s house in East Lansdowne and transported him to the hospital to be with his son.

“It was shocking but the officers were very excellent and comforted me and got me down there,” he said. “Jesse was groggy when they finally got him out but he was aware of his surroundings and knew what was going on.”

Robert Hartnett said his son’s survival is “a miracle.”

Hartnett said his son served 14 years in with the U.S. Coast Guard. A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, Chief Nick Ameen, confirmed Jesse Hartnett’s service and said he joined shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 and was active duty until Aug. 2008. Jesse Hartnett served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves until November 2015, Ameen said.

Jesse Hartnett was also an officer with the East Lansdowne police force from Sept. 2010 until July 2011, according to East Lansdowne Police Chief John Zimath.

“He was a good officer. Actually, he was a great officer,” Zimath said of Hartnett. “He was very well-liked in the community.”

In the meantime, details of Archer’s background gradually emerged Friday.

Reached at her home in Lansdowne, his mother, Valerie Holliday, said Archer was the eldest of seven children and suffered head injuries from playing football and a moped accident. Unfortunately, moped accidents do happen and can be quite serious, which is why it is always best to compare moped insurance before you start riding your moped.

“He’s been acting kind of strange lately. He’s been talking to himself . . . laughing and mumbling,” Holliday said. “He’s been hearing voices in his head. We asked him to get medical help.”

She said her son is a devout Muslim who has practiced the faith “for a long time.”

“He’s going through a lot lately,” Holliday said, adding that Archer believed he was targeted by police.

“I don’t know how he got the gun,” she said. “I’m still hoping they have the wrong child.”

Archer was scheduled to be sentenced Monday in a Delaware County case, according to court records. He was found guilty in a November nonjury trial of forging documents, careless driving, driving with a suspended or revoked license and other related offenses.

In Philadelphia, he was sentenced in March to nine to 23 months in jail and two years consecutive probation in an assault case. He was immediately paroled. He was charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, firearms offenses and terroristic threats for a January 2012 incident but pleaded guilty to simple assault and carrying a gun without a license.

According to court files, on Jan. 31, 2012, Archer had threatened another man with a gun at a house on Alden Street, near 57th and Spruce, in West Philadelphia, then briefly chased the victim outside.

The victim, Roy Walker, told police that about 4:10 p.m. that day, his girlfriend’s father came to the house and argued with him about the relationship.

Walker said the father pushed him out the door and he then saw two men he didn’t know get out of a parked Jeep Cherokee. One of the men – Archer – who had a long beard and skull cap, pulled out a small black-and-silver handgun and pointed it at Walker’s stomach while grabbing his shirt, Walker told police. Walker said he broke free and ran, and Archer briefly chased him before leaving.

Sometime after the January 2012 incident, Archer apparently went to Egypt. It was not immediately clear why he went there.

When he returned to the U.S. on Dec. 2, 2012, he was taken into custody by New York authorities because of his outstanding arrest warrant from the January 2012 case.

Archer was held in a New York City jail until mid-April 2013, when he was brought back to Philadelphia. He posted bail two weeks later.

Defense attorney Doug Dolfman, who represented Archer at bail hearings in Philadelphia Municipal Court, said Friday that Archer’s mother had told him her son had been in Egypt. He said he did not know why his former client had traveled there.

Philadelphia police officers took to social media to express support for their wounded colleague.

“Thank the lord that one of own will recover after being ambushed & shot last night. Please use extreme caution while out on patrol!!” a message from the 14th District’s official Twitter account said.

Raymond Niglio, an officer in the Third District, called Hartnett a “true hero.” He tweeted: “Great job brother. Get well. We stand with you, you are never alone.”

Gov. Wolf issued a statement saying, “We are thankful that Officer Hartnett is alive and not facing life-threatening injuries after being ambushed.”

“This alleged intentional act of violence against an officer seeking to help a fellow citizen is horrifying and has no place in Pennsylvania.”

Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) called the shooting “an act of barbarism” and said he was pleased that federal authorities were working on the case with local police.

“Those who carry out attacks in the name of ISIS or any other terrorist organization must be fully prosecuted,” he said, but added: “This individual and any who would advocate similar acts are not representative of any religion – they are thugs and criminals.”

Rep. Patrick Meehan (D., Pa.) praised Hartnett’s “tremendous heroism” and said he found Archer’s statements about the Islamic State “troubling,” and called for federal investigators to investigate any possible ties to “overseas radical groups.”

A study by the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Policing, released in October, found that the number of ambush attacks on police officers has been relatively steady, at about 200 per year, since a decline in the 1990s. The report found a small uptick in ambush attacks against officers in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

“Concerns about targeted violence against police are on the rise, while officers must not only be guardians of the public but also be prepared to respond to violence targeting them,” the report said.

Cologne, Germany Rape HQ by Refugee Jihad

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One officer quoted an attacker as saying, “I’m a Syrian! You have to treat me kindly! Mrs. Merkel invited me.”

German vigilante group vows to protect women from migrant attackers as 34 suspects are arrested – including three for gang-raping two teenagers

Hundreds of women were sexually assaulted, robbed on New Year’s Eve

The attackers were migrants who taunted police saying: ‘Merkel invited us’

Three Syrians arrested for raping two teenage girls in southern Germany

Vigilante group ‘Dusseldorf is Watching’ has since gained 8,000 followers

Threatening notes in German were found on one of the arrested suspects Read more here.

Germany confirms most mob attack suspects were asylum seekers

Berlin (AFP) – Germany said Friday most suspects in the mob violence that marred Cologne’s New Year’s Eve celebrations were asylum seekers, fuelling calls to quickly deport criminal migrants.

Unsettled by a record refugee influx, Germany has reacted with shock to news that women had to run a frightful gauntlet of groping, insults and robberies in an aggressive and drunken crush of around 1,000 men.

A week after the chaotic scenes outside Cologne railway station, federal police said they had identified 31 suspects whose alleged offences were “mostly theft and causing bodily harm”.

Eighteen of them are asylum seekers, the interior ministry said.

Among the suspects are nine Algerians, eight Moroccans, five Iranians, four Syrians, two Germans and one citizen each from Iraq, Serbia and the United States, ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said.

Federal police had received several complaints about sexual offences, but “the perpetrators of these have not been identified,” he said at a press conference.

Cologne police have separately confirmed receiving over 120 complaints of assaults, ranging from groping to two alleged rapes, calling them apparently coordinated attacks during the year-end festivities.

About three-quarters of the cases involved sexual offences, while others related to theft or bodily harm.

– A question of criminality –

Victims and eyewitnesses had since the beginning blamed men of “Arab or North African” appearance, inflaming a heated public debate about Germany’s ability to integrate the nearly 1.1 million asylum seekers it took in last year.

Right-wing populists have charged that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal migration policy has fuelled crime and destabilised society.

 

German police stand guard outside's Cologne's …

German police stand guard outside’s Cologne’s landmark cathedral, where several offenses aga …

Merkel’s spokesman George Streiter said it was “important that the whole truth comes out, that nothing is withheld or glossed over”, but also warned that migrants must not be put under general suspicion or collectively blamed.

“Primarily, this is not about refugees but about criminality,” he said, noting that most asylum seekers in Germany had come seeking protection.

Still, the mob attacks have stoked popular anger and fuelled doubts about the biggest influx of asylum seekers to any EU nation, most of whom are from the Middle East and Africa, and led to pledges of a law and order crackdown.

“We must do everything to prevent such incidents from happening again,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told the Rheinische Post daily, pledging “more CCTV cameras in places where many people gather, heightened (police) presence on the streets and harsher penalties”.

At the weekend, Merkel’s conservative party plans to agree on tougher policies, including cancelling asylum and refugee status for any convicted applicants with jail terms of any length, and the speeding up of deportations.

– Act with ‘full force’ –

“We need more police, a better equipped judiciary and tougher laws, among other things to more quickly expel criminal foreigners,” said Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

Under current laws, asylum seekers are only sent back if they have been sentenced to jail terms of at least three years, and if their lives are not at risk in their countries of origin. And there is a backlog in carrying out officially-ordered deportations.

“Citizens expect that those without a right to stay really do leave the country,” Kauder told news weekly Der Spiegel.

“We have to act with full force,” agreed Katharina Barley, general secretary of the centre-left Social Democrats, calling the New Year’s Eve violence “a very dangerous mix of organised crime and sexual violence”.

Merkel herself has vowed to “re-examine if everything necessary has been done with regards to expulsions to send a clear signal to those who do not respect our law.”

****

A police report on the mass sexual assaults in Germany on New Year’s Eve has been leaked and shows that officers had a difficult time containing the situation which was described as “chaotic and shameful.”

Der Spiegel received the copy of the report, which describes officers as being overwhelmed as approximately a thousand men gathered outside a Cologne train station attacking and sexually assaulting women.

“The officers on the ground couldn’t gain control of all of the events, attacks and crimes – there were simply too many at the same time for that to be possible,” a high-ranking officer wrote. “On the square outside were several thousand mostly male people of a migrant background who were firing all kinds of fireworks and throwing bottles into the crowd at random.”

 

Cartel Leader Guzman Recaptured in Shootout

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The Mexican Navy said in a statement that marines acting on a tip raided a home in the town of Los Mochis before dawn. They were fired on from inside the structure. Five suspects were killed and six others arrested. The marine’s injuries were not life threatening.

At the home marines seized two armoured vehicles, eight long guns, one handgun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

BREAKING NEWS: Joaquin ‘Chapo’ Guzman recaptured in Mexico

FoxLatino: Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto confirmed on Friday that authorities have captured fugitive drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman  in his hometown of Sinaloa.

“Mission accomplished: we have it,” Peña Nieto tweeted Friday.” I want to inform Mexicans Joaquin Guzman Loera has been arrested.”

The arrest of Guzmán was followed by a raid at a home in the town of Los Mochis, before dawn by Mexican marines, the AP is reporting. They were fired on from inside the structure. Five suspects were killed and six others arrested, the AP is reporting. The marine’s injuries were not life threatening.

It is unclear if the this was connected to the arrest.

At the home marines seized two armored vehicles, eight long guns, one handgun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The statement said they believed a regional commander for a criminal organization was present, but escaped.

The area has been the site of other military operations in recent months as the government continues to search for Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

Guzmán fled in July through a mile-long tunnel dug from what authorities say was a building especially set up for the prison break in plain sight of the prison. The tunnel was equipped with a ventilation system and even a customized motorcycle most likely used to remove the dirt while digging towards the shower area of the drug lord’s prison cell.