Prison officials fired, reward offered over Guzman escape
Print Edition
Mexico’s government has offered a US$3.8 million reward for the capture of fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and sacked top prison officials amid suspicions that guards helped him escape.
Guzman vanished from his cell late last Saturday even though he was wearing a monitoring bracelet and surveillance cameras were trained on the room 24 hours a day, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said.
Osorio Chong said Guzman “must have counted on the complicity of prison personnel... which if confirmed would constitute an act of treason.”
Guzman had been behind bars for just 17 months when he escaped for the second time since 2001.
This time, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel managed to flee a maximum-security prison some 90 kilometers west of Mexico City through a 1.5-kilometer tunnel found under his cell’s shower.
While cameras were constantly trained on the cell, Osorio Chong said there were “two blind spots” to respect the inmate’s privacy “and human rights,” and he managed to remove the bracelet, which only worked inside the prison.
Osorio Chong said he decided to fire the Altiplano prison’s director as well as the head of the nation’s penitentiary system and general coordinator.
Attorney General Arely Gomez said 34 prison officials and 17 inmates were interrogated by prosecutors. No charges have been announced so far. Two of Guzman’s lawyers were questioned and anyone who visited him during his incarceration is being sought.
The owner of the property where Guzman’s tunnel ended also faced questioning.
The government has launched a massive manhunt for Guzman, who amassed a huge wealth as the head of the country’s most powerful drug gang, with tentacles reaching around the globe.
Troops and police patrolled highways, borders and airports, while the governments of the United States and Central American neighbors were cooperating.
Osorio Chong urged Mexicans to help authorities find Guzman. The reward offered by the government, 60 million pesos (US$3.8 million), is double what it usually gives for top drug lords.
Mike Vigil, a retired US Drug Enforcement Administration international operations chief, warned that if Guzman is not captured in the next day or so, he will vanish for good.
“If he is able to make his way to Sinaloa, his native state, and gets into that mountainous range, it’s going to be very difficult to capture him because he enjoys the protection of local villagers,” Vigil said.
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