Joaquin Guzman, the world's most-wanted drug lord, has been captured at a hotel in a seaside resort in Mexico.

Known as "El Chapo" which means Shorty, he allegedly runs the country's infamous Sinaloa Cartel and even featured on a Forbes' list of billionaires. 

The 56-year-old, who had a $5m (£3m) US bounty on his head, is accused of being behind much of the drug violence that has plagued the country for years.

His arrest, in Mazatlan, is believed to have dealt a major blow to the cartel which has an empire smuggling drugs to the United States, Europe and Asia.

Guzman, who had an estimated fortune of $1bn (£600m) in 2009, was reportedly found with an unidentified woman and no shots were fired.

Mexico's president Enrique Pena Nieto confirmed the world's most wanted drug kingpin had been detained.

Public enemy No. 1

Last year, authorities in Chicago dubbed him the city's first Public Enemy No.1 since gangster Al Capone.

Guzman escaped a Mexican prison in a laundry basket in 2001 and became the country's most high-profile trafficker.

He is believed to command groups of hitmen from the US border into Central America.

Guzman was believed to have been hiding in a house in Culiacan, Sinaloa's largest city, but fled as Mexican troops hunted for him.

The property had extra-thick walls and escape tunnels.

A US security official said: "We've been actively tracking him for five weeks.

"Because of that pressure, he fled in the last couple of days to Mazatlan. He had a small contingent with him."