The notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman shocked the world when he escaped from a Mexican maximum-security prison in July, using an elaborate tunnel that was dug to his shower stall.
Now, his daughter has revealed how he pulled off the stunt — by openly buying off the Mexican government.
According to a recent interview with The Guardian, Rosa Isela Guzman Ortiz said “El Chapo” bankrolled multiple high level officials during their election campaigns and, in return, they helped him break out of jail.
“What El Chapo’s daughter said is a strong revelation, which must be investigated and must be taken seriously,” responded Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who leads polls for the country’s 2018 elections. “[President] Pena Nieto cannot stay silent.”
When Guzman was first imprisoned in 2014, Mexico’s then-attorney general vowed the drug chieftain would only be extradited to the U.S. “in 300 or 400 years” after serving his Mexican sentence.
But then “El Chapo” pulled off a brazen escape, coolly stepping into a hole in the floor of his prison cell shower and whizzing to freedom on a motorcycle modified to run on tracks laid the length of the tunnel. There have long been questions about how prison officials could have been unaware that such a sophisticated tunnel was being built directly under their facility.
Even while in prison, Guzman lived a comfortable life.
In a recent court filing shared by his lawyers, Guzman described a relatively permissive environment with plenty of access by outside visitors and some freedom to move around.
“Half a year ago I was in this place and had a daily visit of an hour and a half with my defense attorney,” Guzman said in the filing, plus “a four-hour family visit every nine days and a four-hour intimate (conjugal) visit every nine days, a daily hour on the patio to go out and walk in the sun.”
Raul Benitez, a security specialist who teaches political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said during that earlier imprisonment authorities “practically let him open an office in the prison to run his businesses.”
President Enrique Pena Nieto was embarrassed by the escape in July, Guzman’s second from a maximum security prison. The first escape was in January 2001 from a prison in Jalisco state.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
It’s Mexico nothing should surprise us especially their attacks on Trump.
A bunch of corrupt clowns playing at politics.
The wall won’t be high enough to get rid of all the illegals here already..
It’s like waiting to see if Hillary is going to pay for her crimes. The Government… Instead they’re openly allowing her to run for the highest job in our government. Why is that? Congress took a shellacking on the Lib side. We The People put those repubs there to slow down the dumb stuff. The Republicans haven’t done their jobs. So, once again, why is Hillary still running? You know the things she doesn’t like to hear, is going to be tossed at her continuously until November. If she wins the nomination from The Democratic Party. It’s like her telling the President to call off his dogs, with the FBI on her tail.
Oh really? And that is news? Here is a hint: Every one already knew this. Mexico with its bought and paid for government. Oh what an Epiphany! Give me a break.
And Obama knew all about it from the beginning, no doubt
I have a Grandson in Afghanistan – 3rd deployment in 6 years and I have absolutely no confidence in Obama or Kerry to have his or his buddies backs.
I served during Kerry’s tenure in Vietnam and he was a no good coward then just like Clinton when he was attending Oxford and protesting the war in Vietnam – all three are miserable examples of manhood.
As a man, I resent any comparison to those POS’s.
And the second page on these men
If Trump wins we will finally be able to equip our troops with orders that make sense, fight to win, no more asking to shoot, or waiting until fired upon to shoot, rules of engagement that are shoot first ask questions later. No more fighting with one hand tied behind the back. Veterans will be taken care of finally.
This level of all-pervasive corruption is irredeemable.
That’s what happens when your have extreme poverty ! But yes we all know it ,and I agree their all paid off
This story gives an example of why Mexicans want to come to America. Their politicians are owned by the drug lords.
It’s time to cut off El Chapo’s generous prison privileges. Prison is supposed to be a place of punishment, not a retirement village.
“This story gives us an example of why Mexicans want to come to America.”
Agreed. In the American culture, politicians are owned by the “give me”, and “you owe me” cultures, as well as the greed and wealth they accumulate through “special interests, who line their bank accounts to represent the ‘special interests’, and not their constituents. As long as the politicians are willing and able to continue buying votes in this manner, they will continue to be reelected to public office.
The part of this that is troublesome to me is that then then demand that politicians of Mexican decent be elected (redistricting) to represent ‘THEIR’ culture after arriving in the United States.
The same is true for ALL immigrant minorities, whether they be Asian, African, Mexican, etc., all under the banner of “INCLUSION”.
My question is: “did you come to this country to assimilate into the “American culture”, or did you immigrate her to sustain the lifestyle that you fled your homeland because of”?
(we have enough crooked politicians in our own culture without third world country corruption)
As long as the politicians are elected for what they will do for “give away”, our own country is going down the drain, with 50% paying taxes, and 50% living off the 50% who DO pay taxes.
Mr. Trump WILL build that wall. And Mexico WILL PAY FOR IT! Period!
Yeah, in your dreams!
when countries take the lead by following the ancient Greeks democracy rules, we can sleep more peacefully in our beds with the comfort of knowing that our government officials DO NOT GET PAID for doing the very important job of governance. You want ot be in the upper house, great. but the pay is zero and you can be removed by the people very quickly ND REPLACED quicker.
God only knows which of our planet’s countries will go for this long overdue OVERHAUL of Democratia.
Amen
Gee. What a surpise. The criminals letting the criminals out.
Sounds like here. The first ? president releasing FIVE of the top Taliban terrorists.
And when he’s not attacking our civil rights and flooding our borders with illegals or at the golf course he’s at the prisons releasing more criminals.
Or if he’s really feeling his oats he protecting the biggest criminals of them all …. the Clintons.
Yawn. Just another day.
P.S. PLEASE BUILD THAT WALL MR TRUMP!!!!! AND PUT THE CLINTONS AND OBAMA ON THE MEXICAN SIDE.
that’s the best idea i have heard ever,you can use my ladder tom get them to the top and i will be happy to push them over
Then folks say that Trump is wrong about a wall. Those folks ignore reality.
A wall is a smart Idea, there is too many people getting over here, that hates America, if we dont do it now kiss America away, you dumb fuckers , I live in fear in America , it is not right, we need strong people running the country right
There is a prison here in America with an electric fence. The thing is if you touch it once you get a shock and if you are dumb enough to touch it again you get electrocuted . Why cant we do the same thing on the boarder?
There are a lot of (not stupid) but not well informed people in this country! That is why Obama is in office! Mr. Donald J. Trump, please build the wall and let Mexico pay for it! We need good leadership and the strength to protect the USA!
And this is supposed to be a shock? No there’s no coruption in Mexico.(wink,wink).