Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ Escapes Prison — Again

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

The world’s most famous drug lord has managed to escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico for a second time. Mexico’s National Security Commission confirmed that on Saturday night Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera had escaped the maximum security prison known as Altiplano.

The last sighting of the famous capo was when he was spotted on video surveillance approaching the showers in the prison. Once authorities confirmed his escape they set up roadblocks and shut down the airport in nearby Toluca, the short news release from the security commission revealed.

“This is the most embarrassing day in the Enrique Pena Nieto administration,” said Breitbart Texas Contributing Editor and Border Security Expert Sylvia Longmire. “This is a huge black eye for the Mexican government… it is extraordinarily naïve on their part to think they could have kept him in a Mexican prison and prevented him from escaping.”

During a Sunday morning press conference, Mexico’s National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido stated that Guzman fled through almost a mile long tunnel that leads to a building just southwest of the prison. Currenlty authorities are questioning 18 prison employees in connection with the escape.

Guzman had initially been captured in 1993 on the border with Guatemala and had been sent to the Altiplano prison. He apparently managed to escape from that prison through a laundry basket.

After his escape Guzman, earned worldwide fame in recent years as the top leader of the Sinaloa Federation. He led the drug cartel to become one of the top criminal empire’s worldwide. Forbes even listed the top capo as a billionaire in its rankings of the world’s richest.

Despite being a drug trafficker, Mexican society tends to look at Guzman as a more benign figure since his criminal organization discourages extortion, kidnapping and other violent activities that target innocent civilians which have become a standard way of doing business for drug cartels in Mexico.

This article was updated with additional information.

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