t w in this country. do you think about that ever? it's justice, but i don't want to take joy in any suffering of any other human being. have you forgiven adam? amanda lindhout: i can't say yes or no to that question because it's not a forgiving because adam deserves to be forgiven. but i deserve to have the freedom in my life of not being full of that anger all the time and keep pointing my feet towards forgiveness. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] [music playing] hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is "dateline."ew h. we locked eyes there just for a split second. he was stunned.

he was frightened. he had no idea what hit him. i knew that we had him. andrea canning: he was untouchable, ruthless, lawless, murderous-- he was willing to kill whoever he needed to kill. andrea canning: --the drug lord el chapo. the most wanted fugitive behind osama bin laden. everybody said, no one will ever catch him. andrea canning: but he and his team did it in the most astonishing way. surprised you? i couldn't believe it. andrea canning: the american agent who helped capture el chapo comes out of the shadows. i didn't know who we'd be able to trust. andrea canning: exclusive details of this white-knuckle manhunt. we jump out of the back of that helicopter-- pure chaos. andrea canning: pictures seen here for the first time-- secret drug dens, hidden escape routes. he's like a harry houdini. every single time you got close, chapo would escape. it was beyond imagination. to catch the bad guy, you got to become the bad guy. andrea canning: you're inside this real-life thriller.

this is it. he's there. he's there. lester holt: it was like living a movie. [helicopter whirring] [gun fires] [explosion booms] hello, and welcome to "dateline." he was the infamous kingpin who inspired fear among criminals and law enforcement on both sides of the border. his name was el chapo. for over a decade, he evaded authorities by disappearing into a secret network of tunnels built under his many safehouses. but one man was determined to capture the fugitive and would lead his team to great lengths, even risk his own life, to get the job done. here's lester holt with "inside the hunt for el chapo." lester holt: he was hiding somewhere-- in these forbidding mountains, or in this sprawling city,

or in this sun splash beach resort-- somewhere, somewhere in mexico. he was the most wanted drug lord in the world, implicated in hundreds of murders. and finding him became the dangerous mission of this man and a team of us and mexican law enforcement agents. i am pretty sure i've never started off an interview with the question i'm about to ask you. but you were chasing some really bad people with really long memories. what are you doing talking to me in front of these cameras? you know, originally i started out under an alias. lester holt: for the first time ever, this former dea agent was coming out of the shadows, despite the fears for his life. drew hogan: the danger is the real, right? really, i've got to watch my back the same way, whether i was under an alias or using my real name. is it a calculated risk?

i'm always calculating it in my head. but it was time to really step up and be proud of what i had done, of what my teammates had done. lester holt: his name is drew hogan. facing incredible odds, he and the team put their lives on the line to stalk an elusive prey. we go inside drew's hunt as he pursues el chapo from safehouse to safehouse and finally comes face to face. it's not just a story about one man. it's larger than that. it's two countries coming together and accomplishing something that everyone thought was impossible. lester holt: he recounts that journey in his book, "hunting el chapo." in the book-- for security reasons-- he changed the names of some people and places. we blurred the faces of others who are still working in the field, because, for all of them, danger lurked around every curve in the road.

you're always going to have that in the back of your mind. but it's what you do with that fear. lester holt: what he did was obsess over el chapo's whereabouts. it was nonstop-- nonstop. i would dream about it. it totally consumed my life. lester holt: drew hogan's international odyssey on the hunt for el chapo started far from mexico's narco killing fields-- a small town in the midwest where he played high school football and dreamt of going into law enforcement. your first shot at carrying a badge was at a local sheriff deputy. correct. loved working the street. one day, i was with a buddy of mine, a former police officer, and he said, hey, why don't you just go into chicago and test with the dea? lester holt: the dea, the united states drug enforcement administration. he joined in 2007 at age 25. his new job brought him to a border city in the southwestern united states. his first order of business was to learn about

the mexican narco culture, which included songs like "el niño de la tuna," a ballad about el chapo. his mentor was an undercover agent drew calls in the book "diego." as he was translating them to me, i started to understand really what was behind these songs. they really connect the dots for me, kind of a who's who in that world. were these are like the modern-day outlaws? oh yeah, absolutely. and chapo was at the very top. lester holt: chapo, el chapo-- real name, joaquín guzmán. the city of chicago named him public enemy number one for his role in bringing in tons of drugs that were sold on the streets of the us. drew's co-author, doug century. chapo is a very ruthless and murderous guy. let's not sugarcoat that. he rose to power, though, on his ability to deliver huge amounts of cocaine.

and he was the guy that could deliver. he invented the narco tunnel. lester holt: the narco tunnel, the ubiquitous tunnels burrowed underneath the us-mexico border that the cartels used to smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the us. his rise from abject poverty to running one of the most powerful drug syndicates on the planet, which had thousands of members and spanned the globe, made el chapo a folk hero in mexican culture. he's a little boy that sold oranges on the street and then rises from absolute nothingness-- can't read or write. he's completely illiterate-- to being a billionaire. that's extremely captivating as a mythology for poor working people in a very impoverished country. lester holt: he started in the drug trade in the 1970s and was arrested in 1993. but el chapo was able to run his cartel from a high-security mexican prison for eight years. then, in 2001, his legend grew when he escaped,

hidden in a laundry cart. the way he escaped was like-- like a movie. lester holt: telemundo's julio vaqueiro has covered mexico's drug wars and el chapo for years. him being able to embarrass authorities, i think that's what makes him-- i mean, it's pure gold for a legend, right? lester holt: el chapo was the master of bribery. he spent millions of dollars a year secretly doling out cash to every branch of the mexican government so officials would turn a blind eye to his criminal enterprise. with el chapo, the truth and the reality is that more than 200,000 people have died because of this war on drugs. and there are more than 20,000 people who have disappeared. lester holt: ensconced in his safehouses, el chapo remained free for years and seemed untouchable by the time drew hogan joined the dea. there had been so many failed attempts

throughout the years. and chapo would escape out the back door. he was wired into-- drew hogan: hours, minutes. --the law enforcement. absolutely, at every level. lester holt: but us and mexican agents never gave up on capturing el chapo. a 30-year veteran of the dea, derek maltz, ran the special operations division and oversaw his agents' efforts to bring the drug lord to justice. even though they were unsuccessful in the sense of capturing chapo guzmán, they were very successful in developing intelligence, the knowledge of how these cartels were operating. lester holt: drew hogan and diego first joined the hunt with a daring move by infiltrating chapo's sinaloa cartel. when did he get on your radar in a way that i think i might be able to get him or i want to hunt him? that would have been 2010 into 2011 where diego and i started moving sinaloa cartel money. lester holt: he and diego worked as part of a task force.

diego was a local detective, not a federal agent like drew. these are photos taken during their operations. diego passed himself off as a big-time operator as drew coordinated behind the scenes. by doing this, they were risking their lives. you guys were playing the role of money launderers. right. diego was in his undercover role and posing as a director of operations of a covert criminal network that had access to airplanes and trucks and yachts. we could move millions of dollars at a time and ton quantities of drugs at any point. that was our sales pitch. lester holt: that was their pitch, and they were successful. for instance, see those fedex boxes? they contained nearly $1.2 million destined for el chapo's operations. drew and diego were getting inside the belly of the beast.

andrea canning: coming up-- were you actually reading their texts? every single one of them. andrea canning: --drew hogan moves closer to el chapo, and his family moves deeper into danger. my wife knew everything that we were getting ourselves into. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it.

do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful.

uddy'ssk your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd pain pills would be that big of a deal. holding on to an old prescription? who cares? my grandma wasn't going to use those pills anyway.

it wasn't a problem. our stories are different, but the outcomes are the same. you could save someone's life. it's time to take back your unused or expired prescription drugs before they end up lost, stolen, or simply misused. help keep our community safe and healthy at dea's take back day, october 26th. help kelester holt: byy safe 2011, dea agent

drew hogan was part of the hunt for drug kingpin el chapo. drew and his task force partner diego infiltrated el chapo's sinaloa cartel. these are photos of their undercover operations. they acted as money launderers. and each step of the way, as they moved cash, they found a new target to exploit, leading them closer to the top. as diego and i landed in a new location, we would immediately hit the streets. we would go out that night into the different bars and hotels and clubs to-- --try not to look like agents. exactly. lester holt: they were playing a very dangerous game. and drew was becoming obsessed, obsessed with tracking down el chapo. drew felt he went as far as he could in the us. he needed to immerse himself south of the border.

he made a decision to move to mexico city with his young family. i talked with my wife extensively. she knew everything that we were getting ourselves into. and she told me, what's your gut telling you? and i said, to go-- to go. let's do it. lester holt: leaving diego back in the states, drew in his family arrived in mexico city in may 2012. he and the team were now stalking one of the most powerful criminals in the world on el chapo's own turf. it's just like, who's-- who's watching me? and it could be anybody, from chapo's people, to the local cartel around mexico city, to the street thugs, or even the mexican government. lester holt: he worked in a cluttered cubicle in the us embassy in mexico city. during long days and nights, he barely saw his family. drew's attention was focused on the mountain range

far to the west, the sierra madre. it's known as mexico's lawless land, el chapo's home base. the mexican state of sinaloa comprises part of it. the biggest city there is culiacán, the reputed narco capital of mexico. and el chapo essentially owned the town. it would be like in the heyday of prohibition, when al capone completely owned chicago, for somebody to come in and just try to throw handcuffs on capone. they'd get shot. lester holt: it was a place where kingpins who died in mexico's drug wars were placed in large, ornate tombs. they seemed to stand as reminders of the violence and the danger that engulfed culiacán. i think it is very dangerous. culiacán, sinaloa, and those areas are completely controlled by drug cartels. lester holt: but drew was relentless. for instance, just before he arrived in mexico, he came upon a treasure trove of evidence. el chapo had left his safe haven in culiacán for this

mansion in cabo san lucas. it was raided by mexican law enforcement. el chapo got away. but there were key scraps of paper, notebooks, and phones left behind with phone numbers that drew could target. you can't just target the man himself. you have to target his entire inner infrastructure. that means his pilots, his facilitators, his couriers, his wives, his girlfriends, his sons, down to his maid and his cook. but it began with his two most trusted pilots. lester holt: pilots who would swoop el chapo in and out of his hideouts under cover of darkness. it was a big discovery. drew learned an agent from homeland security investigations back in the states, who he calls brady, had also uncovered the pilots' numbers. he came back and said that--

oh my god, you know, this could be a gold mine. and we just began volleying intelligence back and forth-- him in the states and me down in mexico. lester holt: drew and the team knew el chapo usually didn't carry a phone himself but was always with an underling who did. so they thought, if they could track the phones of el chapo's closest associates, they would find el chapo himself. but making things more difficult was that el chapo's people kept changing what are called burner phones, disposable phones used a short time and then tossed away. don't you have to go back to square one every time they toss them? if they drop their phones all at the same time, yes. but there's-- there's hundreds of people in this organization, and they're not all dropping their phones at the same time. i toss my phone now. she tosses her phone tomorrow. you're three days later. that was their weakness. right. it's not registered in anyone's name. how were we able to identify where these communications

were coming from? through the names that they were using. they were very open in their communications. lester holt: it was a big mistake by el chapo's operation. drew and the team could now track them, and the cartel operatives had no idea. they didn't think that those communications could be intercepted by us law enforcement. were you actually reading their texts? every single one of them. could you tell where they were coming from and whether you were, in fact, seeing communications directly from el chapo? yes. it took us a while to infiltrate this-- this mirror structure that they had set up. lester holt: a mirror structure-- a ladder of phones belonging to el chapo's underlings, climbing to the top from third tier, maybe a runner, to second tier, perhaps a driver, and so on. you essentially cracked the code. cracked the code. lester holt: it was a high point in the search. after years of hunting, el chapo was in their sights

at last. andrea canning: coming up-- chapo knew instantly. somebody was corrupt. andrea canning: --drew hogan smells a rat and makes a move. we had to go into enemy territory and root them out. andrea canning: a bold strike with deadly stakes. the city is lighting up. it's on fire. something is not right. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. new mr. clean ultra foamy magic eraser? with the scrubbing power of magic eraser and the cleaning power of dawn. watch it make soap scum here... disappear... and sprays can leave grime like that ultra foamy melts it on contact. magic. new ultra foamy magic eraser.

billy: one second, grandma. this guy is going to buy my car. okay? grandma: you need carvana... entering plate number... grandma: no accidents, right? billy: no. grandma: generating offer... carvana can pick it up tomorrow! billy: that's an amazing offer. announcer: sell your car the easy way with carvana. life has twists and curls. but you define them and make them bounce. tresemme flawless curls defining mousse. 24 hour. hydrating curl definition. style your life the way you want. ♪♪ tresemme, style your way.

lester holt: this is culiacán, mexico, ♪♪ the base of operations for the sinaloa cartel and, in 2013, fortress for the world's most dangerous drug lord, el chapo. by tracing the burner phones used by el chapo's underlings, the dea's drew hogan was zeroing in on his target. all that mattered throughout this entire time was his location. where was he at? that's the only question i wanted answered. as you're realizing that you were building this ladder, potentially to chapo, what was that like? and you're reading the messages. reading the messages, piecing together day-to-day structure of his organization, his day-to-day operations. it must have been an eye opener. yeah, it was like reading a novel that you couldn't put down. culiacán-- doesn't sound like a place that the dea

or necessarily even mexican authorities could easily infiltrate. this was a stronghold for sinaloa. right. so you have the information, but what can you do in that moment? once i knew that he was in culiacán, i had to find another location. it was going to be far too dangerous to actually go into culiacán and root him out. we thought it would be an absolute bloodbath. lester holt: then, a break-- christmas eve 2013, obsessed with his mission, drew hogan once again sacrificed time with his family to continue the hunt. he worked with brady, his colleague from homeland security investigations back in the states. together, they tracked phones of el chapo's closest associates, knowing el chapo would most likely be with them, and plotting their locations on google maps. we had seen him come down out of culiacán to a remote location, and we were trying to pinpoint it. and after hours of searching on google maps, we found it.

lester holt: it was a location where they saw tiny shelters called palapas in the middle of nowhere. el chapo was camped out at a place known for duck hunting. where he would come down, meet with his most trusted lieutenants or his sons just for a few hours, and then he would head back to the city. once we had that location, it was our x, and i nicknamed it duck dynasty. lester holt: drew now knew el chapo was venturing outside his fortress city of culiacán. this was the best shot they may ever have. he and his partners push their superiors, and a decision was made. they would grab el chapo at duck dynasty. so now you've got him in your sights. but i'm assuming this is not an operation you can pull off by yourselves. no. we cannot do anything as the united states government without the host nation.

from the beginning, i didn't know who we'd be able to trust with this. i hadn't shared anything with the mexican government. and the only unit that i could do that with that i had some level of trust in was the mexican marines, semar. they're the elite. they're the elite. [helicopter whirring] lester holt: semar, the mexican marines, had a sterling reputation for integrity and the ability to keep a secret. but this time, something went wrong. as soon as we met, i provided chapo's location. i provided this duck dynasty location to them. but the second they moved resources up to sinaloa, chapo knew instantly. you saw that in your intercepts? yes. how did you feel? devastated. and it was an eerie feeling. lester holt: the team had been betrayed. but no one knew who did it or why.

but you still wanted him. was plan b to refocus on culiacán? so the heat in around duck dynasty deterred him from coming out. he stayed holed up in his safehouse, where he spent 90% of his time there in culiacán. and he wasn't coming out. and it's the last place you want to have to go get him. right. brady had flown to mexico to join drew in person. the clock was ticking. because of the leak, el chapo now knew something big was about to go down. the team had no choice. we had to make a move, and that move was to go into enemy territory and root him out. lester holt: the task force leaders approved a bold action to do what they didn't want to do and strike at el chapo in his fortress city, culiacán. you went in with the mexican marines into culiacán. once again, you had to trust them.

right. lester holt: drew was recording on his cell phone as the operation began. derek maltz: this particular operation in february of 2014 was the first time that the mexican marines had ever done an operation on the ground in this area because of the danger and the compromises and the risks involved. lester holt: laser focused on their mission, drew and brady and the team had narrowed down el chapo's location to a one-block radius. but they needed to find the right house and a specific door to get at him. so we sent our teams down there to do that. and they spent 24 hours in that city alone trying to pinpoint that door. lester holt: drew and the rest of the team waited at a nearby military base for the call to come in that el chapo's location had been pinpointed. in the meantime, culiacán was abuzz.

fear hung in the air. rumors and text messages were flying among the people who live there. the city is lighting up. it's on fire. the lookouts all throughout the city were alerting everyone that something is not right, that there are people in the neighborhood that don't belong. lester holt: they were right. the mexican marines were about to pounce. andrea canning: coming up, inside el chapo's lair-- you slept in one of his beds. i did. we slept in his beds. we ate the food out of his refrigerator. andrea canning: --a jeweled gun, a jaw-dropping stash, a tunnel under the tub. we're so close. i could taste it. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. subject 1: who's coming in the driveway? subject 2: dad! dad! dad, we missed you!

daddy, hi! subject 3: goodness! my daughter is being treated for leukemia. i hope that she lives a long, great, happy life and that she will never forget how mom and daddy love her. st. jude, i mean, this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. announcer: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment these kids need-- now and in the future. subject 4: cancer makes me feel angry. not in the feel on the outside, just the inside i'm angry at it. subject 5: when your kid is hurting and there's nothing you can do about it, that's the worst feeling in the world. announcer: 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer in the us will not survive.

subject 6: those that donate to st. jude, i hope that you will continue to give. they have done so much for me and my family. announcer: join with your debit or credit card now, and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear. [speaking spanish] subject 7: are you ready to go have some fun? subject 8: yeah! subject 7: yay! subject 9: when we came here, we didn't know what tomorrow would hold. st. jude showed us that tomorrow there's hope for our little girl to survive. announcer: let's cure childhood cancer together. please donate now.

hi, i'm richard lui with a news update.

search and rescue efforts underway in roswell, new mexico, after record rainfall the too severe flooding. officials say at least two died while 309 have been rescued since saturday. get ready for a world series. the los angeles dodgers will face the new york yankees in the fall classic. only punch their ticket after they top the mets. for now, back to dateline. dea agent drew hogan had spent years on the hunt for el chapo, known as the world's most dangerous drug lord. he and his colleagues had narrowed the search to a one-block radius in culiacán, mexico, a town deep inside enemy territory. now, a team of mexican marines and us agents was on the ground, determined to strike before he could escape again. back to lester holt with "inside the hunt for el chapo."

lester holt: february 16, 2014. as drew was waiting at a military base 150 miles away, members of the mexican-us team had entered the hornet's nest of culiacán in search of narco kingpin el chapo guzmán. they'd been on the ground, exposed for 24 hours, and still hadn't located the exact safehouse el chapo was holed up in. drew hogan: so i got a call from the ground team, and they said, look, this isn't working. everyone's tired, hungry. we're exhausted. lester holt: time was running out. drew hogan: we've got one option left. chapo's most trusted courier-- go find him. lester holt: they did. and sure enough, he flipped on his boss and agreed to lead them to el chapo's five safehouses. [spanish] lester holt: a squad of more than 50 mexican marines and us agents swarmed the area. drew and brady flew in from the base

with another contingent of mexican marines. drew caught much of the operation on his phone. i said, perfect. it's done. he is done. lester holt: what followed was a tense cat and mouse game as the mexican marines raided el chapo's safehouses and stash pads throughout culiacán in search of their prize. first message that comes in from my guy says, "cameras everywhere. the place is a fortress." lester holt: drew understood that when he and brady arrived at one of the safehouses. and i see the steel-reinforced door. it's about 6 inches thick. taking the marines probably 10 to 15 minutes to get through that door. lester holt: these images inside those safehouses revealed details about el chapo's drug operation and his life underground, like these fake green bananas that drew says the cartel filled with cocaine and smuggled across the border.

they also found tons of drugs and scores of weapons, including el chapo's prized possession, this jewel-encrusted handgun with his initials on it. that's drew holding it. and drew uncovered another of chapo's signature items. you write in the book that you help yourself to one of his hats. i did. i found one going through one of his safehouses up in the closet, essentially my only souvenir of the hunt. what was your impression of the safehouses and the way he was living? i was surprised. he really afforded himself no luxuries. each safehouse was the same type of construction-- very basic, walmart-style plastic tables. not the lavish trappings of a drug kingpin. no, not at all. lester holt: and there was something else all the safehouses had in common. every single one of them had a tunnel underneath the bathtub which connected to the city sewer system.

lester holt: when they saw the tunnels, they knew. he's gone. i don't know where he's at. lester holt: it was a crushing blow, a low point. tunnels-- el chapo's trademark, expertly engineered, accessed by a secret switch that activated hydraulic lifts under the bathtub. here's video of drew and brady inside one of those tunnels. el chapo was long gone. no sign of him. it was time to regroup. while agents in the us worked to locate el chapo, drew and the team waited in culiacán. exhausted and on edge, they spent four days continuing to dismantle el chapo's criminal network from within his stronghold. you slept in one of his beds? i did, several of them. when we hit these safehouses, we needed somewhere to stay. and the marines turned them into their bases. we slept in his beds.

we went to the kitchen and ate the food out of his refrigerator. i popped open a pacífico, a beer out of his fridge and-- it must have been surreal sitting there in his living room, drinking his beer, sleeping on his bed. yeah, it was almost like, you know, i had become him in a way. lester holt: but el chapo was cunning and elusive. mentally, had you almost caught him at that point? yes. we're so close. i could-- i could taste it. andrea canning: coming up-- drew hogan: we locked eyes there just for a split second. andrea canning: --at last, the hunter and the hunted come face to face. every single time you got close, chapo guzmán would escape. he's like harry houdini. andrea canning: who had the ace up his sleeve this time? surprised you? i couldn't believe it. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

billy: one second, grandma. this guy is going to buy my car. okay? grandma: you need carvana... entering plate number... grandma: no accidents, right? billy: no. grandma: generating offer... carvana can pick it up tomorrow! billy: that's an amazing offer. announcer: sell your car the easy way with carvana. *air wick* how far would you go to set your home ambiance? try air wick essential mist diffuser. it's perfectly portable and glows with a fragrant mist. transform your space with air wick essential mist.

lester holt: drug enforcement agent drew hogan and the team of us agents and mexican marines had been close, so close to catching el chapo guzmán. but the drug kingpin had escaped through a secret tunnel under his bathtub. the trail had not gone completely cold, however. figuring el chapo had fled with someone he trusted,

the dea, armed with information from another case, tracked the cell phone of the kingpin's chief enforcer, picudo. picudo had driven at a high rate of speed from culiacán down to mazatlán, turned around, and came right back to culiacán. you're actually seeing the location of where that phone is? yes. and you see it go from culiacán to mazatlán-- drew hogan: right. - --quickly-- - right. lester holt: --and then return. right. no other mission other than to take el chapo to safety. right. lester holt: mazatlán, the famous beach resort on the mexican coast that attracts thousands of us tourists a year. it was just a two-hour drive from culiacán. drew hogan and the team were ready to go. but they needed a plan first. we couldn't take 300 marines down there. he would know we were coming in an instant. lester holt: instead, they would sneak into mazatlán

under the radar of el chapo's vast network of lookouts, his halcónes, hawks. we buy civilian clothes-- t-shirts and shorts and flip-flops. and we're tourists. you're trying not to look like an invading army at this point. - right. we all left at different times out of the city from different locations. lester holt: they still didn't just where in mazatlán el chapo was holed up. drew hogan: we're about halfway to mazatlán, and hsi finds that new top tier number. and we ping it from the back seat, and it's on the coast. and what's it pointing to? it's pointing to a place called-- called miramar. it's in the middle of the city. like, this is it. this is where he's at. lester holt: they had tracked el chapo's top tier underling to this apartment building-- miramar. they would soon find out if el chapo was with him. we set the operation for 5:30 in the morning.

lester holt: more than a decade of collective investigative work had come down to a pre-dawn raid in the tourist heart of the city. the whole team suited back up in military gear. tell me how it went from that point. we came in right up to the front of the hotel, got out. the marines began filtering inside. and i was standing out front in camouflage, wearing a black ski mask. and at this time, i had chapo's black ball cap on my head. lester holt: they determined el chapo was likely holed up on the fourth floor. knowing he and his bodyguards were most certainly armed, the team was worried the operation would turn into a firefight, catching civilians in and around the apartment building in the deadly crossfire. i was worried about our perimeter. we didn't have enough manpower. so i wanted to stay outside. lester holt: drew watched as lights flicked on in the building.

the mexican marines had begun to make their entry. and that's when i heard the excited radio chatter when i ran up to the guy that had the radio and i said, "what did they say?" he said, "they've got the target. they've got him." lester holt: "him," el chapo. drew had spent four years hunting el chapo. he had weathered the danger and the anxiety of stalking him on his own turf, had sacrificed countless hours with his family, and now, finally, he was about to come face to face with the object of his obsession. drew drove his armored car into the garage. you're about to pick up el chapo. right. i run over to him, and i jump into his face. and the first thing that comes to my mind-- i go, "what's up, chapo?" and his eyes kind of bulged out of his head, and we locked eyes there just for a split second. and they put him into my vehicle into the back seat,

and that's when i told him to turn around and look at me and took a couple pictures, and that was it. he was done. lester holt: as i listen to you tell the story, i'm-- i find myself shocked that this wasn't a bloodbath, that there was no dramatic shootout. in fact, there were no shots fired at all, were there? none. surprised you? i couldn't believe it. i could not believe it. i mean, we could have ended up in a gunfight at every door, every raid, driving around every corner. and it didn't happen. [helicopter whirring] lester holt: a mexican marine helicopter met the convoy and picked up their prized catch, flying him to a nearby military base. yeah, baby! lester holt: drew and brady recorded their celebration on drew's phone. brady: this is how we do it! lester holt: back at the base, drew again pulled out his phone. here he is with brady, posing next

to a blindfolded el chapo. [speaking spanish] lester holt: and drew caught a few moments of el chapo's interrogation by the mexican marines. lester holt: hard to believe, but here is the world's most dangerous drug lord complaining about his teeth. and with el chapo finally in custody, there was one person drew wanted to talk to-- his wife. drew hogan: i hadn't talked to her in days. and i grabbed my phone, and i sent a quick text. and i said, "i got him." and she writes back, "no way." and i said, "yeah, i'm coming home." job was over. that was it. tonight, the world's top drug lord is in custody after decades on the run. man: camera!

lester holt: the news of el chapo's capture reverberated around the world. to grab chapo guzmán after years of a manhunt-- he's like the harry houdini out there, just evading law enforcement. every single time you got close, chapo guzmán would escape. so basically, it was amazing success for everyone. lester holt: drew flew back to mexico city. mission accomplished. but then the unthinkable. andrea canning: coming up-- i just felt a wave wash over me. andrea canning: --one more houdini move-- [booms] --and one wild last stand. he was always one step ahead. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

this charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy edges. it's no ordinary square. charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better, with more cushiony softness. enjoy the go, with charmin. ♪♪ when you have moderate to severe eczema, it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch.

because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent.

ask your eczema specialist lester holt: mexico city, two days after the extraordinary capture of el chapo, dea agent drew hogan returned to his desk at the us embassy. i had this feeling, just this empty feeling. i was completely hollow. you know, and i expected to be doing cartwheels up and down the hall-- ecstatic. but i wasn't. lester holt: drew could not understand why he was suddenly depressed. drew hogan: i felt almost like i was placed at dea to do this.

and then once it was done, that was it. it was time for me to go. lester holt: eight months later, special agent drew hogan walked away from the dea and left mexico with his family. he got a job in the private sector, and that was supposed to be the end of the story. then, 17 months after el chapo's capture-- i was in the back seat of a taxicab in rome on my way to the airport, headed to new york city to meet with my literary agent about the story when my wife sent me a text. she writes, "c is out. he just escaped." lester holt: c, chapo. he had escaped from prison again. drew's head was spinning. and i just felt a wave wash over me there in the back seat of that taxicab, not knowing what was right anymore.

it was-- i couldn't believe it. he was always one step ahead. lester holt: turns out it was all caught on tape. mexican authorities had installed a security camera in el chapo's cell as a precaution. you see el chapo just walking back and forth inside the cell, and then you suddenly stop seeing him. he just disappears off the frame, and that's when he left. lester holt: as the world learned, el chapo escaped through a tunnel dug right under the prison and up into his cell. the job to retake him was now in the hands of the mexican marines and virtually the same group of us agents minus drew. but this time, they weren't starting from scratch. they understood his organization. they understood the network. they understood the movements. he wasn't as clever as he thought. lester holt: learning from and building on the 2014 playbook, the mexican and us team

cornered el chapo on january 8, 2016, just six months after he escaped. [gun fires] but this time, he didn't go down without a fight, and it was wild. [booms] this helmet cam footage shot by a mexican marine captured the operation as it quickly devolved into a shootout-- man: [spanish] lester holt: --killing five of el chapo's men and injuring one marine. el chapo was once again in custody and this time quietly extradited to the united states. in february 2019, guzmán was convicted on all 10 charges against him, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit murder. he was sentenced to life plus 30 years in an american prison. but the drug wars rage on.

el chapo's arrest did not stem the flow of narcotics across the us border. and there were nearly 30,000 murders in mexico in 2017, at the time a record for that country. most of the killings were linked to drug violence, and the cartels are evolving, becoming key suppliers of the fentanyl that is wreaking havoc on the streets of america. derek maltz: enforcement is only one piece of the problem, right? i'm very confident that we've made a difference. but the reality is, is that unless you stop the demand, these young kids that are getting addicted that have no idea what they're taking, this is going to be a very long battle. it starts with the schools, the educators. we need to have a full-court blitz on this problem. lester holt: even though he left the dea in 2014, drew still has security concerns. afraid? no. i wouldn't say afraid. just hyper aware.

lester holt: yeah. ready for anything. lester holt: and ready for his place in law enforcement history-- a dea agent who was obsessed with the hunt for the most wanted drug lord in the world. i think that's where people had gotten caught up before, is that they just become almost infatuated with the man, with the legend, with the myth. and for me, that was never the case. it was about the challenge. it was about the hunt. that's all that mattered. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. ♪♪ this sunday, rising ♪♪ this sunday, rising threats. >> i think the bigger problem