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History Daily

1289: The Capture of Drug Lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán

History Daily

History Daily

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

January 8, 2016. After decades of evading the authorities, drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is arrested for the third and final time.  This episode originally aired in 2024.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

It's the early hours of January 8th, 2016, in Los Moches, a city in the state of

0:14.8

Sinaloa, Mexico. Inside a safe house, drug lord Joaquin Guzman snaps awake at the sound of shouting.

0:22.7

adrenaline floods through his body. He creeps toward a window to look outside. What a burst of

0:28.4

gunfire makes him jump back. With a sinking feeling, Joachim realizes that the police have finally

0:34.3

caught up with him. But fortunately, he has a plan.

0:44.1

Joaquin yanks open a door to the closet. There, in set into the floor, is a hatch that leads to a sewer. Before he descends into the dark tunnel, Joaquin commands one of his lieutenants,

0:49.7

or so Yvonne Gostellum, to come with him. The two men quickly climb down a ladder, close the hatch,

0:55.6

and start running through the dirty water. When Joaquin judges that they've run far enough,

1:00.8

he and Orso climb out of the sewer and emerge near the city center. Orso approaches a cab driver,

1:07.5

draws a gun, and commands the driver to get out, then Orso and Joaquin jump in, speed

1:13.3

off, happy to have made an escape. For more than 20 years, Joosman has been Mexico's most

1:23.6

notorious criminal, although many know him better by his nickname, El Chapo.

1:28.4

Under Joaquin's leadership, the Sinaloa drug cartel has become the wealthiest criminal

1:33.2

organization in Mexico. And as Joaquin speeds away from Los Mochi's in a stolen car,

1:39.5

he's confident that he's escaped the latest raid unscathed, but the police are already on his

1:45.0

tail. Before the day is out, authorities will track him down, and after years of ruling the illegal

1:51.0

narcotics trade, the criminal career of Joaquin El Chapo Guzma, will finally come to an end

1:56.7

when he's arrested for the third and final time on January 8th, 2016.

2:03.7

Hey, a quick note about the live show. I know quite a lot of you listen with your kids,

2:08.2

and I love that. The messages I get about how History Daily has ignited a love of history

2:12.8

or sparked conversations or just become a carpool ritual really make me feel good. So I'm doing all I can

2:19.4

to make the live tour appropriate for all ages, hopefully avoiding school nights and starting early in

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