Battle in El Chapo Hometown Leaves 2 Dead on Christmas Day; 4.5 Tons of Marijuana Seized

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the head of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, being escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture overnight in the beach resort town of Mazatlan, on Feb. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

An interconnected tunnel in the city's drainage system that infamous drug boss Joaquin Guzman Loera, "El Chapo" used to evade authorities, is shown, in Culiacan, Mexico, Sunday Feb. 23, 2014. A day after troops narrowly missed infamous Guzman in Culiacan, one of his top aides was arrested. Officials said he told investigators that he picked up Guzman from a drainage pipe and helped him flee to Mazatlan but a wiretap being monitored by ICE agents in southern Arizona provided the final clue that led to the arrest of one of the world's most wanted men. (AP Photo/Adriana Gomez)

Air support was called into fight. The bandits also attacked a Navy helicopter that was involved in the battle, the EFE media outlet reported.

The incident, specifically, took place at a ranch in the locality of Saca de Agua.

In recent days, Mexican authorities have stepped up their efforts in trying to capture El Chapo in the Badiraguato Mountains, near where his hometown is located.

Guzman escaped from a maximum-security prison in July of this year, using a several-kilometer-long tunnel that Mexican authorities describe as expensive and risky.

He broke out of a Mexican prison in 2001 and was on the run from authorities for more than 13 years before he was captured in February 2014.

Members of the Mexican Navy stand guard during an operation to present Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera aka "el Chapo Guzman" to the press, on February 22, 2014 in Mexico City. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images)

In mid-December, amid the hunt for Guzman, soldiers were entered La Tuna and were stationed there for some time. However, they didn’t find Guzman.

Guzman’s mother, Consuelo Loera, and several of the drug lord’s family members still live in the area.

Mexico's attorney general authorities inspect the exit of the tunnel they claim was used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to break out of the Altiplano maximum security prison in Almoloya, west of Mexico City, on July 12, 2015. (Mexico's Attorney General's Office via AP)

At one point in December, authorities took over the local airport, Rio Dolce, and they would not allow people in or out of the town, according to Business Insider, citing local media outlets.

The moves around his hometown might be intended to put pressure on Guzman.

“The bet might be that, by squeezing some members of his inner circle … [Guzman] might make a mistake (make a phone call, send a less than completely discrete messenger, etc.) that could lead his chasers back to him,” Alejandro Hope, the security and justice editor of El Daily Post who is also a former Mexican security official, said at the time.