Mexico captures drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman

SIX months after busting out of a prison in Mexico, drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been captured, the country’s president has announced.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the world's most wanted drug lord

SIX months after busting out of a federal prison in Mexico, drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been captured, Mexico’s president said on Friday.

“Mission accomplished: We got him. I want to inform Mexicans Joaquin Guzman Loera has been arrested,” President Pena Nieto said in a tweet from his verified Twitter account.

Manhunt ... A poster with the face of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, reading "Wanted, Again", is displayed at a newsstand in one Mexico City's major bus terminals. Picture: AFP

A presidential spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the tweet to AFP, but declined to give more details, saying that a press conference would be held later Friday.

Mexican marines have conducted extensive operations in the northwestern states of Sinaloa and Durango in search of Guzman since the 58-year-old drug lord’s spectacular July 11 escape.

News of his arrest came shortly after the navy reported that five suspects were killed and a troop wounded in a clash with marines in the Sinaloa city of Los Mochis, but it did not indicate whether it was related to Guzman.

Infamous ... Masks of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera 'El Chapo' are pictured in a costume shop of central Mexico City. Picture: AAP

Six people were detained after the shootout, which broke out when marines were tipped off about the presence of armed men in a home, the navy said in a statement.

A suspected gang leader identified as Orso Ivan Gastelum Cruz, was in the house but managed to escape, the navy said.

On July 11, after 17 months at the Altiplano maximum-security prison in central Mexico, Guzman slipped through a hole in his cell’s shower, climbed on a motorcycle mounted on rails, and travelled 1.5km through a tunnel.

Escaped ... Mexican Federal Police show a reward notice for information leading to the capture of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who made his escape from the Altiplano maximum security prison via an underground tunnel. Picture: AP

US and Mexican law enforcement officials say Guzman then flew to his home turf at the Sinaloa-Durango state border because he is revered as a modern-day Robin Hood in the region.

Marines nearly captured him in October in a remote mountain region straddling the two states. Authorities said Guzman injured his face and a leg while falling in the rough terrain, but special forces failed to nab him.

Guzman had been previously captured on February 22, 2014, in the Sinaloa resort of Mazatlan. He was found in a condo with his wife and their young twin daughters.

He had been on the run for 13 years after escaping a first time in 2001 from another prison, in western Jalisco state, by hiding in a laundry cart.

He had spent eight years in prison following his 1993 capture in Guatemala.

JOAQUIN “EL CHAPO” GUZMAN TIMELINE

Back behind bars ... Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been captured again after escaping six months ago. Picture: Supplied

June 10, 1993: Mexican authorities announce Guzman’s first capture in Guatemala.

1995: Guzman is convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

January 19, 2001: Guzman escapes from one of Mexico’s two top-security prisons, in Jalisco state, allegedly in a laundry cart.

2012: Mexican federal police nearly capture Guzman in a coastal mansion in Los Cabos, a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with dozens of other foreign ministers in the same resort town.

February 22, 2014: Mexican marines capture Guzman in a condo in Mazatlan after he eluded them for days through tunnels in Culiacan, also in the state of Sinaloa.

July 11, 2015: Guzman escapes from the country’s top-security prison in Mexico State through a 1.5km tunnel.

January 8, 2016: Mexican marines capture Guzman in an operation in Los Mochis, Sinaloa.