Mexican drug lord Joaquin “Chapo” Guzmán escapes prison again (msn.com).
“The kingpin was last spotted by security cameras in the shower area of the Altiplano prison, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital, on Saturday night before disappearing, the National Security Commission said.
“An alarm was issued after ‘he was not visible’ for a while and ‘the escape of Guzman was confirmed,’ the commission said in a statement.”
Indeed, someone perhaps thought he was just in there for “protective custody” until feuds and political wind died down. Was it a laundry cart this time and did they just not notice his RENNTech SLR—a cop car clone—or armoured Jetta (jalopnik.com, Feb. 2014) conveniently waiting in the prison car park?
.:: Update ::.
El Chapo’s 2nd escape could paralyze Mexico’s national security plans (insightcrime.org).
“Peña Nieto’s administration has captured nearly every big capo that his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, did not, including two top Zetas leaders, the head of the Betran Leyva Organization, the leader of the Juarez Cartel and the two leaders of the Knights Templar, among many others. These captures were, up until El Chapo’s escape, a powerful testament that something was going right.”
And “going right” enough for a return after all those rivals against which the Sinaloa—with widely reported allegations of collusion with Mexican federal government forces (npr.org, May, 2010)— had found them self hard pressed are now splintered enough for a return to a more quiet, low-key approach to business, and non-tax-deductable bribery? Perhaps the Chapo may testify (insightcrime.org, Sept. 2014) card played had a few more than those officially in the Sinaloa Cartel perturbed.
Updates/Follow Ups
17th July 2015.
Manhunters who caught Pablo Escobar are tasked with tracking down escaped Mexican drug lord (independent.co.uk).
“Three retired Colombian generals, who were instrumental in tracking down and then killing Pablo Escobar, met for talks in Mexico City. Escobar was Colombia’s most notorious crime boss and the so-called King of Cocaine. He was gunned down in 1993. ”
But, as if it hadn’t been alluded to so much already…
Here’s why “El Chapo” probably won’t be recaptured anytime soon (businessinsider.com).
“His escape has led to the indictment of seven Mexican officials. Among them, apparently, three belonged to the intelligence division of the Federal Police and two worked at CISEN, Mexico’s civilian intelligence agency. The accused may or may not be guilty of helping El Chapo break out from prison, but the mere suspicion that moles are encrusted in highly sensitive areas could be extremely disruptive. Intelligence sharing, both within and between agencies, will suffer. Whole divisions could be purged or subjected to extreme and time-consuming vetting procedures. ”
17th July 2015.
Mexican skepticism regarding the official story of El Chapo’s tunnel escape.
Chapo’s tunnel leads straight to Mexico narco-conspiracy hell (insightcrime.org).
“Logic plays only a small role in these theories. What, exactly, anyone would gain by making up this tunnel story—and going through the trouble of literally constructing the ruse—is not clear. The tunnel story is embarassing enough, and is perhaps even for mortifying for the Mexican government than if Chapo had walked out the prison’s front door. ”
15th July 2015.
Drug lord El Chapo’s escape caught on CCTV (news.sky.com).
“CCTV pictures of the moment notorious drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman escaped from his prison cell have been released by Mexican authorities. The security camera footage shows him walking to his bed where he sits and appears to change his shoes. He then walks to the shower and toilet area and just disappears.”
It also gives a peek at that snazzy motorcycle on rails he scooted off down the tunnel on.
“Unlike the last few years prior to Guzman’s arrest, the Sinaloa Cartel does not have any adversaries of comparable power. Its foremost rivals—the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, the Beltran Leyva Organization, and the Knights Templar—have been even more buffeted by government pressure than has Sinaloa. … Logic suggests that this is the perfect time for Guzman to rebuild his group’s hegemony, and swoop into areas where it had previously lost influence. Guzman may see opportunities to once more attempt a takeover of the northeastern corridor, which includes one of the nation’s most important border crossings in Laredo, with only weakened and warring factions of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas left to oppose him.”
Could it have been “a plate shifting jolt to the nation’s organized crime landscape” if, hard pressed, he had not been taken out of the picture for a while? One may wonder how calmly El Mayo, who rose to take over during El Chapo’s incarceration, is taking things, and further wonder why—with the supposed rivalry—if he is.
13th July 2015.
Oh, it was a tunnel, like those he had used to evade capture and those used for smuggling and trips to SeaWorld… but with a motorbike!
“[Mexico’s National Security Commissioner] Monte Alejandro Rubido did not comment on why authorities had apparently failed to notice a [mile-long] long tunnel being built under the prison.”
You can read all about El Chapo’s capture, the personal feuds and “honourifics envy” early last year here (Pick of the Week 26th Feb. 2014).
Recent/related stories
- Knights Templar drug cartel leader La Tuta and Los Zetas leader z42 caught (Latina Pick of the Week 20th March 2015)
Share this story