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Mexico Denies DEA Participation in Chapo Guzman Take-Down

Mexico's interior minister, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, emphatically states that the DEA did nothing more than provide intelligence information in the arrest of Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman-Loera and that the U.S. was not involved in his capture. (Similar article in English here.)

"There was no involvement of any single person, everything has been by special operation of the Navy of Mexico (...) I have not heard of anyone from the U.S. government and any statement about this is clear because there is not" , he said.

Osorio Chong insists all the DEA did was provide geo-location technology for Chapo's satellite phone. [More...]

"It is right in the fact of supporting technology that allowed us, along with ours, geo-reference where the offender was located and the people who were with him. Not one person from the DEA or any other security institution U.S. involved in the operation that was performed. It was only Navy personnel, Navy Mexico who participated. "

Osorio Chong said the capture took only 3 minutes, and that Chapo was with his wife and infant daughters. He also said that Ismael Zambada-Garcia is their next target.

Meanwhile, Guzman has applied for a writ of Amparo to prevent his extradition.

The drones the U.S. deployed to find Chapo were used in Culiacan,, not Mazatlan, during the end of January and beginning of February, with the approval of the Mexican military. This sounds like hair-splitting. The DEA, ICE and Homeland Security contributed the information from wiretaps, their phone databases and drones to help locate Chapo and his and Zambada-Garcia's associates. Mexico then arrested and interrogated the associates, and between the info provided by the U.S. and that from those arrested, Mexico conducted the final raid.

At least one Mexican paper is reporting that Mexico has offered Chapo a deal to become a cooperating witness against public officials and businesses who protected him during his 13 years on the lam and against those who aided his 2001 prison escape. Osorio Chong denies this, but a spokesman for President Nieto confirms those matters will be investigated. According to the paper, Chapo has already discussed some murders and:

He said Ismael El Mayo Zambada is at large in the mountainous area of Sinaloa and Durango, while Juan Jose Esparragoza, Blue, is hidden in Jalisco.

Another paper's report of his post-arrest statements is here.

So it sounds like Mexico wants to milk Chapo for information and make some more arrests before turning him over to the U.S. If they also need his testimony for the trial of those he cooperates against, his extradition could be a long time coming.

< Monday Open Thread | Judge Sets Trial in Mexico for Chapo Guzman >
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    Given a choice (none / 0) (#1)
    by Mikado Cat on Tue Feb 25, 2014 at 03:52:50 PM EST
    he would prefer a US prison to one in Mexico?

    If he starts naming names, I doubt he has a long life ahead of him.