Video of 'El Chapo' escape adds to myth surrounding Mexican drug lord
A released Wednesday reveals how notorious drug kingpin Joaquin 鈥淓l Chapo鈥� Guzman escaped from a top Mexican prison over the weekend.
The footage, taken via surveillance camera, shows Mr. Guzman twice ducking behind a short shower wall in his cell at the maximum-security Altiplano prison. The first time he disappears, he resurfaces and goes back to his bed to change his shoes. Then he returns to the shower, bends down, and is not seen again.
The video fleshes out some of the details relating to Guzman鈥檚 break-out: The hole behind the shower wall led to a tunnel that ended at a half-built house about a mile from the prison, authorities said.
The footage also adds to the myth around Guzman, who as head of the country鈥檚 most powerful drug cartel has developed a larger-than-life, 聽reputation, especially in his home state of Sinaloa.
鈥淲e鈥檙e glad,鈥� a woman from Guzman鈥檚 hometown CBS News. 鈥淚n a way, the work and jobs generated by El Chapo benefit us.鈥�
How is it that one of the main men behind Mexico鈥檚 bloody drug wars, which have claimed 100,000 lives over the last decade, is viewed by some as a hero?
Part of it, according to The Guardian鈥檚 Ed Vulliamy, is what El Chapo represents.
鈥淗e is, in his way, the last of the old-guard mafia dons, the last of that breed epitomised 鈥� by the figure of Marlon Brando as Don Corleone, the godfather,鈥� Mr. Vulliamy . 鈥淭he last mafioso of the old school, who rules like a medieval baron, by consensus within his terrain and fearsome violence outside it.鈥�
Born in the small city of Badiraguato in Sinaloa, Guzman grew up poor, selling oranges to get by. His uncle, however, pioneered Mexico鈥檚 drug-trafficking mafia in the 1960s and 70s, and by the late 1980s, Guzman was not only part of the family business 鈥� he was heading his own faction.
The lore surrounding him only grew when he was captured by authorities early in his leadership of the Sinaloa cartel. From prison, he built alliances with officials in public office and high politics, Vulliamy wrote. Then, in 2001, he broke out of El Puente Grande in a laundry cart.
In the years until his recapture in February 2014, Guzman became something of a legend. The Wall Street Journal in 2009:
In Culiac谩n, urban legends about El Chapo are daily bread. One says that a thief unwittingly robbed the capo鈥檚 niece鈥檚 car, and got his hands cut off by Mr. Guzman鈥檚 thugs as a lesson. In another, a former top state official reportedly fell for a local beauty and sent her an expensive gift. The gift was returned to his office along with a note from Mr. Guzman saying the girl was his. 鈥淪end her another gift and I鈥檒l kill you,鈥� the note said.
Separating fact from fiction is difficult.
His life has also inspired , , and in one case, titled, 鈥淓l Var贸n la Droga鈥� (鈥淭he Drug Baron鈥�). He has also been listed multiple times among Forbes magazine鈥檚 鈥淢ost Powerful.鈥�
But those who have spent years covering and uncovering the narcotics trade out of Mexico have warned against glamorizing Guzman.
鈥淗e is a complete savage,鈥� Tom Fuentes, a CNN law enforcement analyst, . 鈥淲hat they do, and how they do business, is based on complete terror. ... They kill journalists, politicians, police officers, corrections officers. And then not just that person, but every member of their family.鈥�
Guzman鈥檚 escape has led Mexican officials to launch a massive manhunt, fire the director and a slew of workers at the Altiplano prison, and offer a $3.8 million reward for details that lead to his recapture. The city of Chicago, a hub for the Sinaloa cartel鈥檚 US trafficking and distribution centers, has once again labeled Guzman, 鈥�Public Enemy No. 1.鈥�
鈥淭he man is no Robin Hood 鈥� he鈥檚 a mass murderer,鈥� Don Winslow, who has authored novels around a fictionalized version of Guzman, in a CNN op-ed. 鈥淭he last time that Chapo 鈥榚scaped,鈥� his effort to put his empire back together touched off a decade-long war that caused untold suffering, left thousands of orphans, shattered communities and destroyed souls.鈥�
