Joaquin Guzman had been on the run for 13 years
One of the world's most wanted drug barons, Joaquin Guzman, known as El Chapo or "Shorty", has been arrested in Mexico.
He was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US. "Shorty" Guzman had been on the run since escaping a high-security prison in a laundry basket in 2001.
He was arrested in Sinaloa state, in a joint operation with US anti-drugs forces.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto used his Twitter account to praise the forces involved in the arrest in the north-western resort of Mazatlan, in Sinaloa state.
Guzman was taken to Mexico City and paraded before the media, before boarding a helicopter surrounded by heavily armed troops.
He was taken straight to prison, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said.
The US state department had offered a reward of up to $5m (£3.2m) for information leading to his arrest.
Guzman was arrested in Guatemala in 1993, but escaped from a high security jail in Mexico in 2001
"Shorty" Guzman has been indicted in the US on federal trafficking charges.
The Sinaloa cartel controls much of the flow of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine to the US.
'Success story' Guzman's arrest is a big boost for the administration of Enrique Pena Nieto, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City.
Mr Pena Nieto, who took office just over two years ago, said he intended to change the "war on drugs" policy of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, which critics say led to a rise in violence throughout Mexico.
But Mexican police and troops have killed or arrested key figures in the drugs cartels since Mr Pena Nieto came to power.
The US has also arrested several associates and relatives of "Shorty" Guzman.
US anti-drugs agents and Mexican forces arrested Guzman in the seaside town of Mazatlan
Their assets were frozen and US nationals and companies were prevented from doing business with them.
Guzman's father-in-law, Ines Coronel, was arrested nearly a year ago. He was accused of smuggling drugs into the US.
Guzman was born in the town of Badiraguato, probably 56 years ago, and became an important figure in the drug cartels in the 1980s.
He was arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and handed over to the Mexican authorities. He was sentenced to more than 20 years in jail, but he bribed officers and escaped a maximum security jail in Mexico in 2001.
Since then, he has been continued to run the Sinaloa Cartel with complete impunity.
Mother burns 11-yr-old daughter’s buttocks with hot knife!
BY EMMA UNA
A middle aged woman, Ene Edem Okon, has been arrested by the police for allegedly inflicting bodily harm and tying her 11-year-old daughter, Queeneth Ene Edem, hands and legs for being wayward. She was arrested when Queeneth appeared in her school, Government Primary School, Akim, with multiple wounds on her chest, stomach and buttocks prompting the school authorities to report the matter to the police at the Akim Police Station.
The girl narrated to Sunday Vanguard that, on February 17, she left home at Eneyo village in Akpabuyo Local Government Area for the Maternity Junction Settlement, some four kilometers away from home, to meet her cousin, one Blessing, but did not return home. “We were waiting for Blessing’s friend from whom she wanted to collect something but she delayed in coming and we waited till night and, because we were afraid of going back home, we slept in an uncompleted building at the Maternity Junction”, she said.
The 11-year-old said the next day, one of her friends saw her at the Maternity Junction and told her that her mother was looking for her with a machete after which she became afraid to go back home. “We stayed on the road near our house and were breaking kernel to eat when my mother sent somebody to come and catch us. That person came pretending to play with us but suddenly grabbed me and dragged me to my mother”.
The mother, angry, allegedly got hold of her and used a rod to hit her all over her body, thus leaving her with severe wounds. “She also put the kitchen knife in the fire she was cooking and when it was hot, she placed it on my buttocks”, the girl stated.
When Sunday Vanguard met Mrs Ene Okon at the Akim Police Station, she appeared remorseful, stating that she was driven by anger because Queeneth was stubborn and had formed the habit of spending the night outside at such a tender age. “I sent her to school in far away Calabar because I don’t trust the school here in Akpabuyo but she is just too stubborn, so I had to teach her a lesson.”
Mr Hogan Bassey, the police spokesman for Cross River Police Command, said the woman would appear in court after investigations are concluded.
Mr Bassey Ibor, a child rights activist, said children’s courts in the state are not functioning and called on the state government to fund the courts. “The cases we have taken to the children’s courts have suffered long adjournments because the judges are not sitting. Government should, as a matter of urgency, ensure that the courts are funded so that these children would not continue to be denied of justice.”
A middle aged woman, Ene Edem Okon, has been arrested by the police for allegedly inflicting bodily harm and tying her 11-year-old daughter, Queeneth Ene Edem, hands and legs for being wayward. She was arrested when Queeneth appeared in her school, Government Primary School, Akim, with multiple wounds on her chest, stomach and buttocks prompting the school authorities to report the matter to the police at the Akim Police Station.
The girl narrated to Sunday Vanguard that, on February 17, she left home at Eneyo village in Akpabuyo Local Government Area for the Maternity Junction Settlement, some four kilometers away from home, to meet her cousin, one Blessing, but did not return home. “We were waiting for Blessing’s friend from whom she wanted to collect something but she delayed in coming and we waited till night and, because we were afraid of going back home, we slept in an uncompleted building at the Maternity Junction”, she said.
The 11-year-old said the next day, one of her friends saw her at the Maternity Junction and told her that her mother was looking for her with a machete after which she became afraid to go back home. “We stayed on the road near our house and were breaking kernel to eat when my mother sent somebody to come and catch us. That person came pretending to play with us but suddenly grabbed me and dragged me to my mother”.
The mother, angry, allegedly got hold of her and used a rod to hit her all over her body, thus leaving her with severe wounds. “She also put the kitchen knife in the fire she was cooking and when it was hot, she placed it on my buttocks”, the girl stated.
When Sunday Vanguard met Mrs Ene Okon at the Akim Police Station, she appeared remorseful, stating that she was driven by anger because Queeneth was stubborn and had formed the habit of spending the night outside at such a tender age. “I sent her to school in far away Calabar because I don’t trust the school here in Akpabuyo but she is just too stubborn, so I had to teach her a lesson.”
Mr Hogan Bassey, the police spokesman for Cross River Police Command, said the woman would appear in court after investigations are concluded.
Mr Bassey Ibor, a child rights activist, said children’s courts in the state are not functioning and called on the state government to fund the courts. “The cases we have taken to the children’s courts have suffered long adjournments because the judges are not sitting. Government should, as a matter of urgency, ensure that the courts are funded so that these children would not continue to be denied of justice.”
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