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US drug agents knew of 'El Chapo' escape plots after 2014 arrest US drug agents knew of 'El Chapo' escape plots after 2014 arrest
(35 minutes later)
US drug authorities knew of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s escape plans about a month after his arrest last year, according to internal Drug Enforcement Administration documents obtained by the Associated Press.US drug authorities knew of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s escape plans about a month after his arrest last year, according to internal Drug Enforcement Administration documents obtained by the Associated Press.
The internal DEA documents reveal that drug agents first got information on escape plans in March 2014, about a month after Guzmán was captured in the seaside resort town of Mazatlán, Mexico.The internal DEA documents reveal that drug agents first got information on escape plans in March 2014, about a month after Guzmán was captured in the seaside resort town of Mazatlán, Mexico.
Immediately after Guzmán’s arrest, which was considered a crowning achievement of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto’s government in its war against drug cartels, various Guzmán family members and drug-world associates were considering “potential operations to free Guzmán”, the documents show.Immediately after Guzmán’s arrest, which was considered a crowning achievement of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto’s government in its war against drug cartels, various Guzmán family members and drug-world associates were considering “potential operations to free Guzmán”, the documents show.
In the documents, Guzmán is identified by Guzman-Loera.In the documents, Guzmán is identified by Guzman-Loera.
DEA agents didn’t have information about Saturday night’s plan, when Guzmán escaped through an underground tunnel near a shower close to his prison cell.DEA agents didn’t have information about Saturday night’s plan, when Guzmán escaped through an underground tunnel near a shower close to his prison cell.
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In March 2014 agents in Los Angeles reported a possible escape operation funded by another drug organization run under the auspices of Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel. That plot involved threatening or bribing prison officials. That July, the same investigation revealed that Guzmán’s son had sent a team of lawyers and military counter-intelligence personnel to design a breakout plan. In March 2014 agents in Los Angeles reported a possible escape operation funded by another drug organization run under the auspices of Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel. That plot involved threatening or bribing prison officials. That July, the same investigation revealed that Guzmán’s son had sent a team of lawyers and military counterintelligence personnel to design a breakout plan.
In December of the year, agents in the DEA’s Houston field division reported that a Mexican army general stated “that a deal was in place to release both Guzman-Loera and imprisoned Los Zetas Cartel leader Miguel Angel ‘Z-40’ Tevino-Morales”.In December of the year, agents in the DEA’s Houston field division reported that a Mexican army general stated “that a deal was in place to release both Guzman-Loera and imprisoned Los Zetas Cartel leader Miguel Angel ‘Z-40’ Tevino-Morales”.
A widespread manhunt that included highway checkpoints, stepped-up border security and closure of an international airport failed to turn up any trace of Guzmán by Monday, more than 24 hours after he got away.
The White House said on Monday that US attorney general Loretta Lynch spoke with Mexico’s attorney general the day after the escape was discovered. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US government is offering its full support to Mexico and pointed out that Guzman has also been charged with serious crimes in the US.
Widely considered the world’s richest and most powerful drug trafficker before his capture last year, Guzmán slipped down a shaft from his prison cell’s shower area late Saturday and disappeared into a sophisticated mile-long (1.5km-long) tunnel with ventilation, lighting and a motorcycle apparently used to move dirt.
“All the accolades that Mexico has received in their counter-drug efforts will be erased by this one event” if Guzmán is not recaptured, said Michael S Vigil, a retired DEA chief of international operations.
Along with the 2014 escape plans, the DEA documents reveal that Guzmán was still directing facets of his drug empire.
“Despite being imprisoned in a ‘high security’ facility, DEA reporting further indicates Guzman-Loera was able to provide direction to his son and other cartel members via the attorneys who visited (him) in prison and possibly through the use of a cellphone provided ... by corrupt prison guards,” the documents stated.
Following Guzmán’s capture, according to the documents, his son Ivan Guzman-Salazar became “the de facto leader of the Guzman branch of the Sinaloa Cartel”.
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Guzmán’s “right-hand man, Damaso Lopez-Nunez” took over one of the four major trafficking organizations that operated under the auspices of the larger Sinaloa cartel.
It is “premature to accurately predict” what will now happen to the power structure of the organization, but Guzmán’s escape likely “will affect current leadership”, according to the documents.