MAZATLAN, Mexico (AP) — A former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation says Mexico's top drug cartel leader's big mistake was starting to come down from his mountain hideout to enjoy more comfortable surroundings.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa cartel, was captured early Saturday morning, bringing his reign to an end without a shot fired. Authorities had begun tightening the noose earlier this month.

A U.S. law enforcement official says members of Guzman's security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities find the country's most wanted drug dealer.

The U.S. official says the guards had been arrested earlier this month in a series of raids at seven houses in Culiacan, Mexico. Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mexican military found a series of interconnected tunnels under the houses that Guzman is thought to have used to escape.

The official says Guzman is believed to have flown to the resort town of Mazatlan after the house raids.

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