Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers during a presentation at the Navy's airstrip in Mexico City, in this file photo taken February 22, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

Houses, cars and even sewers were searched as the police learned that Orso Ivan Gastelum Cruz, the Sinaloa cartel's boss in the northern part of the state, was also present. However, the Secretariat of the Navy confirmed that Gastelum Cruz managed to escape.

Four vehicles were seized in the raid, including two armed cars, as well as a rocket launcher and several other weapons.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency sent a message on Friday to the Mexican government, congratulating them for the recapture of Guzman, saying "this is a great day for justice and for the objectives of Mexico and the US"

This is the third time Guzman has been captured, after being arrested in 1993 and 2014. However, he has pulled off two daring escapes from maximum-security prisons. In 2001, he was wheeled out by a janitor in a laundry cart. In 2015, his allies dug a tunnel about a mile long right into his jail cell at the Altiplano prison in central Mexico, sparking concerns that police and prison officials may have been involved.