Operation Black Swan was a joint U.S. and Mexican-led military operation that resulted in the recapture of the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...

leader,

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of th ...

, following a deadly firefight in the city of

Los Mochis Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Ahome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population. Los Mochis is th ...

, Sinaloa, on 8 January 2016. Officials in the Mexican government announced that the operation was planned and executed by the Mexican Navy Special Forces, and that they had originally targeted an important Sinaloa Cartel assassin at a home in Los Mochis, and happened to find Guzmán as well. U.S. government officials announced that members of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

and the

U.S. Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

assisted the

Mexican Marines The Naval Infantry Corps ( es, Cuerpo de Infantería de Marina) are the naval infantry and amphibious infantry force of the Mexican Navy. The main task of the ''Infantería de Marina'' is to guarantee the maritime security of the country's port ...

in the 8 January mission, and will pursue the extradition of Guzmán to the United States. Guzmán had been on the run since his escape from a federal prison in

Almoloya de Juárez Almoloya de Juárez is a town in the State of Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Almoloya de Juárez. The name Almoloya comes from the Nahuatl, that is properly ''Almoloyan'', composed of: atl, "water"; molo "impersonal voice of moloni, ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, on 11 July 2015. On 8 January 2016, Mexican naval forces moved into position to raid a house in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, believed to be occupied by one of Guzmán's top assassins or sicarios. As they entered the building, an "intense" gun battle erupted between the marines and several armed assailants, leaving five of the cartel gunmen dead and six wounded. One marine was also wounded. During the chaos of the firefight, the marines discovered Guzmán, who fled the house through a series of tunnels and then attempted to escape in a stolen vehicle. Shortly thereafter he was spotted by federal agents and apprehended outside a motel a short distance away from the house. The Mexican Marines reported that they found an arms cache at the house consisting of eight assault rifles, two

M16 rifle The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-ro ...

s with

grenade launchers A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The m ...

, two

Barrett M82 The Barrett M82 (standardized by the U.S. military as the M107) is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. Also called the Light Fifty (due to its chambering ...

anti-materiel rifles, and a loaded

rocket-propelled grenade launcher A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

. Two

armoured cars Armored (or armoured) car or vehicle may refer to: Wheeled armored vehicles * Armoured fighting vehicle, any armed combat vehicle protected by armor ** Armored car (military), a military wheeled armored vehicle * Armored car (valuables), an arm ...

were also seized.

Arrest

Guzmán and a lieutenant escaped through a secret tunnel, emerging away and stealing an automobile at gunpoint. A statewide alert was issued for the stolen vehicle, and the Federal Police located and intercepted it about south of Los Mochis near the town of Juan José Ríos. Guzmán attempted to bribe the policemen with offers of cash, properties, and offers of jobs. When the policemen refused, Guzmán told them "you are all going to die". The four policemen sent pictures of Guzmán to their superiors, who were tipped that 40 assassins were on their way to free Guzmán. To avoid this counter-attack by cartel members, the policemen were told to take their prisoners to a motel on the outskirts of town to wait for reinforcements, and later, hand over the prisoners to the marines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Swan, Operation 2016 in Mexico Conflicts in 2016 Operations against organized crime in Mexico Military operations involving Mexico Military operations involving the United States January 2016 events in North America Sinaloa Cartel Battles of the Mexican drug war

Arrest

See also

References