Mexican drug kingpin 'El Chapo' Guzman captured: US

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Notorious cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, reputed to be the world's biggest drug trafficker, was arrested on Saturday by Mexican marines at a coastal resort, a US security official said.

Guzman, who headed the Sinaloa drug cartel, was arrested at around dawn in Mazatlan, on Mexico's west coast, after more than a decade on the run.

The United States had offered a US$5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of "El Chapo", reputed to be behind much of the drug violence that has plagued Mexico for years.

Mexican forces were acting on a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Agency and US Homeland Security intelligence, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Guzman has amassed an immense fortune while authorities carried out their exhaustive international manhunt to capture him.

"We've been actively tracking him for five weeks. Because of that pressure, he fled in the last couple of days to Mazatlan," the official said.

"He had a small contingent with him," the official said.

Guzman was apprehended more than a decade after escaping from a maximum-security prison in a laundry cart.

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