How El Chapo Escaped

Infamous drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who daringly escaped prison on July 11, utilized a tunnel leading from the only “supermax” maximum-security pri.

• How Did El Chapo Escaped Prison

Drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been recaptured seven months after he escaped from prison, Mexican authorities announced Friday.

But this isn’t the first time El Chapo, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, has been on the lam. The drug kingpin has a long history of capture, escape and recapture.

1. El Chapo was decked out in camouflage too, and always armed to the teeth with a camouflaged R-15, Alex said. This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office shows a diamond-encrusted.
2. With just over 7 years in prison, on January 19, 2001, El Chapo escaped in a vehicle that provided laundry services, in a task that involved 71 people including 15 prison guards. El Chapo Guzman Consolidates as the Most Wanted Drug Lord in the World.
3. El Chapo's prison conditions were bleaker than his first stint — he was in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day, and his cell did not have windows. His cell was located near other drug cartel members, even those who feuded with Sinaloa. In July of 2015, El Chapo escaped from prison once again.
4. 12, 2019 file photo, Emma Coronel Aispuro, center, wife of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, leaves federal court in New York. In one case, he escaped through an entry under the shower.

Here are some major dates in Guzman’s timeline (with some information from the Associated Press):

• June 10, 1993: Mexico announces Guzman’s first capture in Guatemala. But even after Guzman was imprisoned, “He continued to manage his affairs from prison with scarcely a hitch,” writes Robert Saviano in his book ZeroZeroZero. “The maximum security prison Puente Grande, where he was transferred in 1995, became his new base of operations,”

• Jan. 19, 2001: With the help of bribed guards, Guzman escapes from his top-security prison. Saviano describes the escape: “One of them—Francisco Camberos Rivera, known as El Chito, or the Silent One—opened the door to El Chapo’s cell and helped him climb into a cart of dirty laundry. They headed down unguarded hallways and through wide-open electronic doors to the inner parking lot, where only one guard was on duty. El Chapo jumped out of the cart and leaped into the trunk of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.”

• Feb. 22, 2014: El Chapo is captured in Mazatlan after hiding in tunnels for days. The success was touted as a huge win for authorities, who by then had deemed Guzman the “most powerful drug trafficker in the world.”

• July 11, 2015: Guzman escapes through a tunnel from Mexico’s top-security prison. You can see the path he took to escape here.

• Jan. 8, 2016: He is once again re-captured in Los Mochis, Sinaloa after a shootout with Mexican marines. Five people were killed and one marine was wounded in the fight.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

How Did El Chapo Escaped Prison

EDIT POST