El Chapo is cornered by military in mountains

Net closes on drugs chief

THE world’s most wanted drug lord was holed up in a rugged Mexican mountain range as hundreds of soldiers closed in.

Authorities say they have Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman cornered in Sinaloa, the escaped crime boss’s stronghold in the north west of the country.

The military have flooded into the area after his mobile phone was tracked by US drug enforcement agents. Marines stormed the location, but reportedly found only the phone and some clothes. Troops have sealed off 13 communities, forcing at least 260 people to flee their homes.

Guzman escaped in July from the Altiplano prison, near Mexico City, fleeing down a 35ft shaft in his shower into a tunnel dug for him by associates.

Several prison officials are among 20 people who have been arrested in connection with the jailbreak. New surveillance footage of Guzman’s escape has emerged featuring the sound of loud hammering as his men worked to free him. Leaked footage to the Televise channel shows how guards turned a deaf ear to “construction sounds” just moments before the ruthless cartel boss fled.

Guzman, 58, is seen turning up the volume on his television as his men hammered a hole through the steel floor under the shower, the only blind spot in the

cell. The drug chief bent down behind a dividing wall and disappeared at 8:52pm on July 11.

No officers reacted among the halfdozen people working in the surveillance control room. It was only at 9:29pm that guards finally opened the cell door and went into the hole.

Despite the heightened military activity, many doubt Guzman will be caught.

Julio “El Tio” Martinez, who works closely with the gangs, said: “He enjoys the protection of federal and state security forces, as well as that of the governor.”