Have you ever imagined being a billionaire? How about being a fugitive? Well, El Chapo was both a billionaire and a fugitive. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman became the leader of the Sinaloa cartel in the late 1980s. He was first captured on June 9, 1993, and was transported to Almoloya maximum security prison in Mexico. El Chapo constantly asked to be relocated, and in November of 1995, he was sent to the Puente Grande prison near Guadalajara. On January 19, 2001, El Chapo escaped by hiding in a dirty-laundry cart which guards led to the gate, and then he proceeded to walk out the building dressed as a policeman. The escape was like something you would see in a movie. Shortly after his escape, El Chapo resumed his leadership in the Sinaloa Cartel, which is one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking syndicates in the world. The Sinaloa Cartel primarily smuggles and distributes Columbian cocaine, Mexican marijuana, methamphetamine, and Mexican and Southeast Asian heroin into the United States.1
On February 22, 2014, El Chapo, asleep next to his wife and 2-year-old twin daughters, was captured at a hotel in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. He had no time to escape nor grab his weapons. Once he was captured, the United States wanted El Chapo to be handed across the border for drug trafficking charges in U.S. federal court. However, Mexico insisted that they would detain El Chapo, and keep him so secure that he would not see the world in hundreds of years.2 He returned to prison after making a legendary escape 13 years ago through a tunnel he had fabricated. The prison he was placed in went to great lengths to ensure its security — by checking if the walls were hollowed, having a set shower time, and forcing inmates to have their heads shaved every seven to twelve days. Mexico officials felt that El Chapo should do his time in Mexico before being extradited to the United States.3
On Saturday, July 11, 2015, word spread that El Chapo had escaped Altiplano Prison again. The next morning Mexican officials confirmed this news. Surprisingly, he had escaped through a 1.5-kilometre tunnel from a small opening in the shower area of his cell.4 Altiplano has a multitude of ground-level security measures such as the prison being covered in CCTV cameras and access control points.5 El Chapo was located in the special treatments area, hallway two, cell 20. The video footage Osorio Chong released from inside El Chapo’s prison cell showed Guzman entering the shower then disappearing at 8:52 p.m.6
One inmate, Flavio Sosa, was in the same unit seven years prior at the prison from which El Chapo escaped. He claims that this prison is not one you can easily escape from, because there are only 20 inmates in the special treatment area and a camera is watching you at all times in your cell. On top of that, there is a special visit program to intimidate inmates and inspect every cell thoroughly. In his words, “They strip you naked and once you are naked you have to do three squats, show them your testicles… Then, they enter your cell with dogs to examine it, with a tool that they use to knock on the wall on the floor… You have a shower time at 5:45 in the morning. Nobody can turn on the shower during the day or night.” This escape really exposed the weaknesses in the Mexican justice and prison system.7
This isn’t the first time El Chapo has used tunnels to traffic or escape authorities. The tunnel he used to escape Altiplano prison also gave people a glimpse of the tunnels the Sinaloa Cartel likely use to traffic drugs across borders without being detected. Many people blame the Mexican government for the escape of El Chapo, causing them to lose trust in their government. El Chapo’s escape was demoralizing — through it, Mexican citizens lost the trust of the government’s abilities to protect their citizens as well as the trust between both borders. 8
- Romero L. Gomez, “El Chapo’ jailbreak is both a Mexican and an American story,” The Conversation (1-4), July 17, 2015. ↵
- E. Eduardo Castillo and Katherine Corcoran, “Cartel boss escapes Mexican prison; Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman used elaborate, 1.5-km tunnel in second break from jail,” The Toronto Star, 2015. ↵
- Rafael Castillo, “Inside El Chapo’s Escape Tunnel,” Vice News, Jul 24, 2015, video. ↵
- E. Eduardo Castillo and Katherine Corcoran, “Cartel boss escapes Mexican prison; Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman used elaborate, 1.5-km tunnel in second break from jail,” The Toronto Star, 2015. ↵
- Helen Regan, “Newly-Released Footage Shows Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman Moments Before His Escape,” Time, 2015. ↵
- Rafael Castillo, “Inside El Chapo’s Escape Tunnel,” Vice News, Jul 24, 2015, video. ↵
- Rafael Castillo, “Inside El Chapo’s Escape Tunnel,” Vice News, Jul 24, 2015, video. ↵
- Alfredo Corchado, “Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman tunnels out of prison,” Dallas Morning News, July 13, 2015. ↵
147 comments
Mariana Valadez
I have heard about El Chapo many times. I saw the news when he escaped and was actually place in a prison across the border from me in CD Juarez. I find it crazy how he had so much power and the intelligence to escape prison not once but multiple times. His life is very interesting and he is extremely powerful.
Faten Al Shaibi
El Chapo is a very Interesting persona.
If you see his picture You will think that this man has limited intelligence. But the truth is entirely different. It is not easy to escape from a heavily guarded prison so I think he got some help from inside the prison. I hope that this criminal will gets his punishment. and I hope to live in a world free of drugs.
Crystal Baeza
El Chapo was defiantly a powerful man and had his life made. I don’t think the times he escaped he was a one man show, I do believe he paid off security and had others be involved. It shows how weak the Mexican government was compared to Guzman. He had the money to pay off anyone for him to get his evil ways. I would say he was an extremely intelligent man to be able to escape high secured prisons more than once. He wasn’t going to let anyone stop him from being the biggest cartel leader there was.
Bictor Martinez
I have heard of El Chapo many times before this story. He is one of the most powerful cartel leaders this world has ever seen. The Mexican Government should have been more careful where they detained El Chapo. They know how powerful this man is capable of and with this, they should take more precautions where they imprison him. I understand if the Mexican citizens lose trust in the Mexican Government. If the Mexican Government cannot keep one man imprisoned then how could the Mexican citizens trust their own government.
Lyzette Flores
I truly believe that El Chapo did not escape both times without the help of anybody. He’s a billionaire and obviously convinced some guards to help him out and in exchange give them millions of money. Knowing how corrupt Mexico is the guards agree. I am in no way saying that what El Chapo does is right but he honestly is a smart man for being able to escape jail not once but twice. With all, I really liked the flow of this article.
Brianna Ford
I have heard about El Chapo’s escape from prison a few years back, but I never knew that he escaped more than one. Its wild that he actually escaped a maximum prison facility. That just shows how powerful he was in and out of the prison. He must have had connections outside of the prison in order to escape a maximum security prison successful. He had the power and the influence of many people, although he is a criminal, his life is somewhat interesting.
Luis Magana
I actually live where El Chapo was actually in prison. He was about 25 minutes from my house and i remember every time i would pass by there was a whole police force at he prison making sure he wouldn’t escape again. Later on he was transferred to a prison in the United States but in my hometown everyone would talk about El Chapo and what he did. El Chapo was an extremely powerful individual with a lot of connections that could help him with anything he needed. He really showed how easy it is to manipulate or outsmart the Mexican government and demoralize them. I really believe he is a legend.
Madeline Torres
I’ve heard a good amount of stories of El Chapo and his escapes and it always leaves me wondering just how in fact Mexico’s government isn’t on top of their prisons and security. I think El Chapo should be held in some sort of high security prison simply because he brings no good into the world. Mexico’s government most definitely needs to work on their security force and needs to find a way to keep these fugitives from escaping and prevent bringing so much crime to the world. El Chapo’s escapes give people the satisfaction of knowing that Mexico’s government is in fact lacking.
Katherine Watson
Growing up in a Hispanic family, there was no way to be to not hear about the story of El Chapo. It was quite scary to me as a kid to be told about a man who runs such an extensive drug cartel, as well as being able to escape a high-security facility twice. Although this does show the lack of security within the facility, I think it just shows how creative this man was at getting what he wanted.
Damian Jennings
When the name El Chapo was mentioned I would assume based on prior knowledge that he was associated with the drug cartel, and that he is a massive distributor of illegal and controlled substances. I never knew this man was capable of escaping a maximum security prison, with the aid of his men. Of course this was not a one mans job, but it is definitely impressive to hear, then again it just shows how powerful he is and how powerless the security was.