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‘El Chapo’ May Have Used Bird to Test Escape Tunnel Air ‘El Chapo’ May Have Used Bird to Test Escape Tunnel Air
(about 2 hours later)
MEXICO CITY — To plot his escape from the most secure prison in Mexico, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug kingpin known as El Chapo, is believed to have relied on countless little birds to whisper information into his ear and help whisk him to freedom.MEXICO CITY — To plot his escape from the most secure prison in Mexico, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug kingpin known as El Chapo, is believed to have relied on countless little birds to whisper information into his ear and help whisk him to freedom.
Now, it appears that at least one of them was an actual bird.Now, it appears that at least one of them was an actual bird.
Government officials visiting Mr. Guzmán’s cell after his breakout discovered the body of a small bird sitting in his trash can. The bird, they believe, was used to test the air quality of the subterranean tunnel through which Mr. Guzmán vanished, according to an official helping to coordinate the manhunt. Government officials visiting Mr. Guzmán’s cell after his breakout discovered the body of a small bird sitting in his trash can. The bird, they believe, was used to test the air quality of the tunnel through which Mr. Guzmán vanished — like coal miners who used canaries — according to an official helping to coordinate the manhunt. Officials are calling the bird “Chapito.”
Officials have even given the little bird a name: “Chapito.” It was one of many marvels of the kingpin’s escape. The architects of his tunnel gave it lighting, a motorcycle on rails to transport the displaced earth and oxygen tanks. It was built high enough so that Mr. Guzmán, whose nickname means “Shorty,” could stand.
Among the many marvels of the kingpin’s escape, now comes what may have been the old-fashioned use of a bird to determine if the air was breathable in the tunnel, which ran for about a mile and was as deep as 30 feet. Amazingly, the escape happened while a camera was watching over Mr. Guzmán. Surveillance video released Tuesday by Mexican officials shows the moment he casually walked across his cell, crouched and disappeared through a hatch in his shower.
Like coal miners who used canaries to detect dangerous gases like carbon monoxide, the thinking goes, the architects of Mr. Guzmán’s tunnel wanted to ensure that their boss did not pass out on his long walk to freedom. To reach Mr. Guzmán’s cell is to pass through a tangle of doors, halls, flights of stairs and courtyards in the three-story Altiplano prison. More than 17 gates must be opened by machine.
It was only one of many signs of the attention to detail: the tunnel had lighting, a motorcycle on rails to transport the displaced earth and oxygen tanks. The designers even built the tunnel high enough so that Mr. Guzmán, whose nickname means “Shorty,” could walk out while standing. His cell was at the very end of the “special treatment” wing, on a hall with low ceilings shared by nine other high-priority cells. His, like the others, measured roughly 60 square feet and contained two concrete shelves, a concrete stool, a narrow bed, a thin mattress and a sink. The toilet, little more than a hole, sat between the sink and a waist-high wall separating the shower. Mold clung to the poorly painted walls, though the cell contained natural light and a window that could be partly opened.
Amazingly, the escape happened while a camera was watching over Mr. Guzmán. The shower itself barely measured more than the 20-by-20-inch hole in the floor through which Mr. Guzmán escaped. As a sheer feat of engineering its precision was astounding. A slender slab of concrete weighing about 20 pounds and threaded with metal rebar lay against the shower’s back wall, its removal the final step of Mr. Guzmán’s escape and the beginning of the mile-long tunnel.
Surveillance video released by Mexican government officials on Tuesday shows the moment of Mr. Guzmán’s brazen escape, as he casually walked across his cell, crouched over and disappeared through a hatch in his shower. It might seem odd for the government to offer a group of journalists a guided tour of the maximum-security prison where Mr. Guzmán outfoxed his captors. But the motive became apparent the further the tour delved: to show the extraordinary skill and determination required for such a maneuver. The layers of security were reminiscent of prisons in the United States.
Mr. Guzmán, leader of the multibillion-dollar Sinaloa Cartel, had evaded prison for 13 years before he was captured last year by the American and Mexican authorities at the seaside resort of Mazatlán, Mexico. He is notorious for ordering the construction of tunnels both to transport drugs and to evade the authorities. Mr. Guzmán, leader of the multibillion-dollar Sinaloa Cartel, had evaded prison for 13 years before he was captured last year by the American and Mexican authorities in seaside Mazatlán, Mexico. He is notorious for ordering the construction of tunnels both to transport drugs and to evade the authorities.
In the video, he is seen bending behind a barrier meant to give prisoners privacy while showering — and then he is gone.In the video, he is seen bending behind a barrier meant to give prisoners privacy while showering — and then he is gone.
The government is engaged in a widespread search to recapture Mr. Guzmán. The head of the maximum security prison has been fired, as have a host of other officials involved with the nation’s prison system. The head of intelligence for the federal police has also been fired. And more than 40 guards and staff members at the prison are being questioned. The government is engaged in a widespread search to recapture Mr. Guzmán. The head of the maximum-security prison has been fired, as have a host of other officials involved with the nation’s prison system. The head of intelligence for the federal police has also been fired. And more than 40 guards and staff members at the prison are being questioned.
“It’s kind of like a joke,” Carl Pike, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration official told The New York Times on Tuesday. “ ‘Gee, a tunnel. Who would have thought?’ It’s kind of a no-brainer.” “It’s kind of like a joke,” Carl Pike, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration official, told The New York Times on Tuesday. “ ‘Gee, a tunnel. Who would have thought?’ It’s kind of a no-brainer.”
American officials have offered a wide variety of aid to help in the manhunt for Mr. Guzmán, including drones, marshals, even a special task force. American officials have offered a wide variety of aid to help in the manhunt for Mr. Guzmán, including drones, marshals, even a special task force. But officials on both sides of the border say that the Mexican government has kept the Americans at bay, without responding to the offer, confounding law enforcement officials.
But officials on both sides of the border say that the Mexican government has kept the Americans at bay, without responding to the offer of help, confounding law enforcement officials and stalling efforts to recapture Mr. Guzmán. Mexican officials, who spoke Tuesday night about the prison video, said they had found nothing odd or out of the ordinary about Mr. Guzmán’s behavior before his flight. But moments after Mr. Guzmán passed through the opening in the bathroom area, he vanished from the video feed, the prison and Mexican custody — for the second time. By some accounts, the last time Mr. Guzmán escaped, in 2001, he hid in a laundry cart.
Mexican officials, who spoke Tuesday night about the prison video, said they had found nothing odd or out of the ordinary about Mr. Guzmán’s behavior before his flight. Mr. Guzmán is perhaps the best-financed fugitive in the world. Forbes magazine once estimated his wealth at nearly a billion dollars. With the resources and loyalists available to him, his recapture will be a tall order.
But moments after Mr. Guzmán passed through the opening in the bathroom area, he vanished from the video feed, the prison and Mexican custody — for the second time.
By some accounts, the last time Mr. Guzmán escaped, in 2001, he hid in a laundry cart.
Mr. Guzmán is perhaps the best-financed fugitive in the world. Forbes magazine once estimated his wealth at nearly a billion dollars. With the resources and loyalists available to him across the country, his recapture will be a tall order.
The government has deployed hundreds of people across the country to monitor roads, airports and transit hubs.
United States Drug Enforcement Administration documents show that the agency warned Mexican officials 16 months ago about an escape attempt, immediately after Mr. Guzmán was caught, according to The Associated Press.United States Drug Enforcement Administration documents show that the agency warned Mexican officials 16 months ago about an escape attempt, immediately after Mr. Guzmán was caught, according to The Associated Press.