Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Chava Cartas, Netflix’s ‘Facing El Chapo,’ also known as ‘La Captura,’ follows two Federal police officers, Arturo Carmona and Hector Rosales, who become unlikely partners tasked with patrolling the Los Mochis-San Miguel highway. What begins as an uneventful morning marking the end of their night shift quickly turns into an intense showdown when they intercept a stolen vehicle, only to find the most feared drug lord of Mexico inside. El Chapo, having narrowly escaped the Mexican Marines, uses every tool in his kit to put pressure on the two officers, hoping to walk free. However, this soon gives way to a psychological tug of war, with too much at stake. While stories about El Chapo have engaged the popular consciousness for years, the exact details continue to capture the imagination.
Facing El Chapo Reimagines El Chapo’s 2016 Capture by Two Federal Officers
‘Facing El Chapo’ is a dramatized account of the real-life arrest of former Mexican drug lord El Chapo, or Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, along with his lieutenant, Jorge Iván Gastélum Ávila. While many know about the role played by the Mexican Marines during the operation, little is known about the two Federal officers who were also closely involved with the recapture on January 8, 2016. The movie, penned by Bernardo Esquinca and Héctor de Mauleón, broadly stays true to how things played out in real life, adding a touch of fiction to its depiction of the events from the two officers’ perspectives. While their real identities remain classified, much of the film’s narrative is drawn from reality.
By 2014, Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, better known worldwide as El Chapo, had become one of the most infamous and influential criminals in the world and had already escaped from prison once. Following a re-arrest on February 22, 2014, by Mexican marines at a hotel in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, El Chapo was detained at the Altiplano High Security prison for over a year, until he managed to escape yet again, on July 11, 2015. The operation to recapture him began swiftly, with officials coming to believe that he was hiding in the mountainous region known as the Golden Triangle and intended to make a biographical film about his life. By the end of the year, however, the officials had identified a house located in the coastal city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, as related to El Chapo and his gunmen.
El Chapo and El Cholo Were Intercepted While Escaping With a Stolen Car
Following a month of surveillance, the Mexican Marines raided the house in the early hours of January 8, 2016, in what is known as Operation Black Swan. However, El Chapo, along with his lieutenant, Orso Iván Gastélum, or “El Cholo” reportedly managed to escape through a tunnel connected to the underground sewers, with naval personnel giving chase. After wading through the sewers for roughly a kilometer, the two fugitives emerged back on the road and stole two vehicles in quick succession, both on gunpoint. According to records, El Chapo and El Cholo were spotted 10 kilometers short of the town of Juan José Ríos by two Federal police officers who had responded to the statewide alert for stolen vehicles and were unaware of the fugitives’ identities.
When the two officers stopped one of the stolen vehicles, El Cholo was the first to step out. Seeing that he was armed, one of the officers pointed their gun at him, before El Chapo stepped out as well, reportedly threatening them with his identity. However, when the two officers refused to budge from their position despite knowing who he was, El Chapo settled on a different strategy. After being cuffed and detained, he asked the officers to take him to Juan José Ríos and promised them numerous rewards, be it companies, homes, or job offers. When the officers refused, El Chapo reportedly threatened them with death, but he was met with no success. Instead, the officers took a photograph of El Chapo in the police vehicle and sent it to their superiors. This picture was then forwarded to several national heads, eventually emerging as a famous photo.
El Chapo and El Cholo Were Extradited to the US Following the 2016 Arrest
Official reports mention that the officials anticipated the arrival of some 30 trucks and numerous assassins attempting to rescue El Chapo from police custody, and the threat of the same was soon relayed to the two officers. By then, they had already observed some trucks blocking the road at a distance, and accordingly decided to take the detainees to a nearby motel located along the Los Mochis-San Miguel highway, where they waited for help to arrive. Soon enough, the Federal Police arrived on scene, and were soon joined by a navy convoy and the state police.
Following this intense recapture, El Chapo and El Cholo were then transported to Mexico City via the Los Mochis airport. On January 19, 2017, El Chapo was extradited to the United States and found guilty on 10 counts the following month, on February 12. On July 17 of the same year, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, and he remains incarcerated in ADX Florence as of writing. El Cholo was extradited to the United States on April 1, 2023, and is awaiting trial. In translating these events for the screen, the creative team of ‘Facing El Chapo’ decided to blend fact and fiction, creating a deeply immersive experience. In a conversation with El Informador, director Chava Cartas noted that the film is built around faithful depictions of various “points” of the true story, but that the events between those points have been fictionalized to an extent.
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