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
Samantha Zamorano
It is hard to feel any sympathy for a man who leads the most notorious cartel in Mexico that is responsible for the killings and terrorizing for many across Mexico. I remember when El Chapo had escaped for the last time, many in Mexico revered him because they claimed that he had helped their communities by giving back. Regardless of how many people distrust the Mexican government, or how much El Chapo helped them out financially, I would never want a man who has a blatant disregard for human life to roam around free, or be in hiding for that matter.
Lesley Martinez
I cannot believe that he was able to escape prison, not once but multiple times. The first time he escaped is almost comical because he escaped so easily and with the help of the guards at the prison. And the second time is just shocking. To know that he found a way to have a tunnel created that was 1.5 kilometers in the special treatment unit does resonate some suspicion about the surveillance in Mexican prisons. It seems that El Chapo needs to be kept in a prison that will require him to be watched 24/7.
Yuliana Vasquez
His multiple attempts for escaping jail was such a shocker for me, I have only known about his famous tunnel. It was interesting knowing more about his past events especially that hes escaped in a laundry cart. I bet a lot of people were bought to help him escape. After reading this , it makes me want to watch the series they made of him.
Malik Heard
hearing about how he escaped was from a friend was unreal the way he escaped sounded really fake to me util I looked it up myself and even then I was like how was this possible.After this I looked up EL chapo and saw that he has already escaped a few times before.His escape plan was crazy and took a lot of time and man power but it worked even though they had him under surveillance pretty much 24/7 he still escaped only to be caught like a month or two later. This article was very informative and fun to read he was like a modern day pablo escobar.
Roberto Rodriguez
It is just crazy how many times El Chapo has escaped, there is no doubt that these crazy stories of his escapes will eventually make their way to television when we get more information about his life. It is really crazy to think how many times he escaped prison, you would think after the first or second time, eventually they would just have him completely on lock down.
Jose Maria Llano Aranalde
Seeing it on the news I could not believe that he had escaped. He is the one person that you had to have under surveillance and not let out of your sight. The way that he was able to escape from the prison is even crazier. It honestly sounds made up. It could have been straight out of a movie. I thought the police would be more careful knowing that he used tunnels before to escape from authorities.
Marco Montes de Oca
When I first heard of how El Chapo escaped prison in 2001, I thought they were joking. Escaping a prison by hiding in a laundry cart is shocking. The way the article explained it as something you would only see in a movie is absolutely true. It’s shocking how El Chapo continued to escape from prison over and over. This shows a lot about how prisons are monitored, people can not continue to escape. All of this must be put to an end.
Sebastian Portilla
He is one crazy man. El Chapo is a renowned drug lord in the world. He’s generated billions and billions of dollars through the trade of drugs. To many he is a bad man but many villages in Mexico worship him as he is a “Robin Hood” of their time. The Mexican government does not comply with the citizens of Mexico as El Chapo does. Well written article!
Patricia Arechiga
El Chapo has been a name that I kind of grew up hearing considering the fact he was on the news constantly. It’s pretty hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that he escaped a numerous amount of times. I wonder how he even developed his plans or contacted others to assist him considering the fact he was in ‘maximum’ security prisons. As much as I hate to admit it, he is an incredibly smart person. Unfortunately, his smartness was used for wicked crimes. I wonder what his life would be like if he didn’t undergo the cartel life.
Saira Locke
El Chapo is a very lucky man. Being able to escape prison is a miracle but escaping twice is unheard of and he succeeded. I believe that he had insight to the prison secrets as his cartel probably smuggled drugs into those prisons. It is scary that the Mexican government allowed him to escape twice and truly shows how secure their system really is. I haven’t never read into El Chapo’s story but reading this article was very interesting and has incurred me to read more about him and his wrongdoings.