Perspective: Recent captures and extraditions of Mexican drug chiefs
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, one of the world’s most notorious drug kingpins, is finally headed for a court date the United States sought for two decades while he made brazen prison escapes and spent years on the run in Mexico.
Here is a look at the top Mexican drug cartel bosses captured, killed or extradited in recent years:
Jan. 19, 2017: World’s most powerful drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is extradited to the United States.
Jan. 8, 2016: Mexican marines capture “El Chapo” Guzman for a third time in Los Mochis, Sinaloa.
Feb. 27, 2015: Authorities say Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, one of the world’s most-wanted drug lords who once terrorized Michoacan state, is captured by federal police.
March 9, 2014: Mexican soldiers kill Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, leader of the Familia Michoacana and later the Knights Templar cartel, while riding a mule in the remote Michoacan mountains. The government had previously claimed that he was killed in December 2010, but never produced a body.
Feb. 22, 2014: Mexican and U.S. officials capture “El Chapo” Guzman for a second time in the beach resort of Mazatlan.
July 15, 2013: Authorities in northern Mexico capture Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, alias “Z-40,” leader of the brutal Zetas cartel.
Oct. 7, 2012: Mexican marines kill Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, alias “El Lazca,” a founder and top leader of the Zetas. His body is later stolen from a funeral home. Trevino Morales takes over the Zetas.
Oct. 6, 2012: Mexican marines arrest alleged Zetas regional leader Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo, suspected of involvement in massacres and the killing of U.S. citizen David Hartley in 2010 on Falcon Lake, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sept. 12, 2012: Mexican marines capture purported top Gulf Cartel leader Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias “El Coss.” U.S. authorities had offered a $5 million reward for his arrest.
July 29, 2010: Mexican army raids a house in the town of Zapopan and kills Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Dec. 16, 2009: Mexican marines kill Arturo Beltran Leyva, leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel, in a shootout in Cuernavaca.
1993: “El Chapo” Guzman is captured for the first time.
