The Legendary Prison Escapes Of El Chapo
Wikimedia CommonsJoaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in U.S. custody in January 2017.
Born in La Tuna, Mexico, on April 4, 1957, Joaquín Guzmán became world famous as “El Chapo.” While the nickname was rooted in his short stature of 5’6″, he would grow into one of the most terrifying drug lords the world had known after founding the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in the mid-1980s — and dominating the trade.
Ultimately, Guzmán would become just as famous for evading authorities and curating a prolific career as a prison escapist. He was first captured in June 1993, but continued managing outside operations from the Puente Grande maximum-security prison with ease. On Jan. 19, 2001, however, he suddenly disappeared.
With corruption and the threat of cartel retribution at an all-time high, Guzmán had his cartel bribed the guards. One of the guards, later identified as Francisco Camberos Rivera, simply led Guzmán out of his cell and helped him into a laundry cart. Then, Rivera wheeled Guzmán to the parking lot and into the trunk of a car.
Manuel Velasquez/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe tunnel and motorcycle used by Guzmánn to escape from Altiplano Prison in 2015.
The news shocked authorities worldwide, but it would pale in comparison to Guzmán’s escape in 2015. With 14 years of further murders and assassinations to his name, El Chapo had been deemed the “most powerful drug trafficker in the world.” His second escape thus yielded utter disbelief, and was far more complex than the first.
Arrested in Mazatlan on Feb. 22, 2014, and incarcerated in Altiplano Federal Prison, Guzmán vanished the following July. Climbing through a two-foot-square hole beneath one of the showers, he navigated a secret tunnel that the cartel had been digging for months — which led to a cinder block house outside the prison walls.
The tunnel spanned nearly a mile but was constructed to Guzmán’s specifications. It was fitted with lights and ventilation and held a motorcycle for Guzmán to ride out. While his escape from yet another maximum-security prison proved the most embarrassing incident for those in charge, Guzmán’s freedom didn’t last.
Arrested in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, six months later, he was extradited to the United States and sentenced to life in prison in July 2019.
