The Bigger Context of El Chapo Guzman’s Latest Escape

Despite Guzman’s history of paying off authorities and other residents to get his way, former Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam in January shrugged off concerns over whether the drug lord could break free, saying the risk of a second escape “does not exist”.

The security camera footage shows him walking to his bed where he sits and appears to change his shoes. And just the noise alone as they bored the final 30-foot vertical shaft directly under the prison to reach Guzman’s cell would have generated some attention. On Saturday evening, July 11, Guzman went to the shower area and proceeded to open a small hidden door that leads to the tunnel.

Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said Guzman’s cell was videotaped 24 hours a day. National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido that the blind spots were intentional and created to permit Guzman some privacy while washing.

The government also showed a video of the 1.5-kilometer (one-mile) escape tunnel, which had a motorcycle rigged on a special rail system with two metal carts in front of it. Guzman probably rode it on his way through the almost mile-long tunnel, well before authorities recognized he had escaped and launched a manhunt. “In a way, the work and jobs generated by El Chapo benefit us”.

But the Mexicans have kept the Americans at bay, without giving an answer on the extra help, according to Mexican and American officials. Three Mexican prison officials have been fired.

Osorio Chong met with US Ambassador Anthony Wayne, agreeing “to strengthen the coordination and collaboration that exists between the two countries with the goal of recapturing Joaquin Guzman”, the interior ministry said.

From what journalists could observe, Guzman’s surroundings were a lot more Spartan than his last digs, when he was incarcerated from 1993 until his escape in 2001 from the Puente Grande high-security prison.

“They themselves have told us that they don’t know where that information came from”, he said referring to U.S. counterparts and the AP’s report. The drug kingpin’s nickname is a play on his height: “El Chapo” means “shorty”, or “the short one”, in Spanish. This man has the influence and resources to comfortably run for the rest of his life.

The Sinaloa cartel moves drugs by land, air and sea, including cargo aircraft, private aircraft, buses, fishing vessels and even submarines, the Justice Department has said.

Guzman, Mexico’s most high-profile criminal, was boss of the powerful Sinaloa cartel prior to his capture in February 2014. Mexican officials have since launched an investigation into the incident and at least 49 persons have been invited for questioning concerning the daring escape of the 58-year-old drug lord. Experts say a plan that likely took more than a year with inside help.