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| $1 Million Price Tag Hinted at in El Chapo’s Escape | $1 Million Price Tag Hinted at in El Chapo’s Escape |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — Just about the only hard facts to emerge in the wake of the escape of Mexico’s most notorious drug baron are that he is gone, and that he used a sophisticated, solidly constructed tunnel to fashion his departure from the tight confines of the nation’s most secure prison cell. | |
| The whereabouts of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo? Unclear. His accomplices? Not sure. How long it took to build the tunnel, and how much it cost? For that, there are only estimates. | The whereabouts of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo? Unclear. His accomplices? Not sure. How long it took to build the tunnel, and how much it cost? For that, there are only estimates. |
| One is this: More than a year and at least $1 million. | One is this: More than a year and at least $1 million. |
| “Listen, it’s a black market for these things,” said Walter Lopez, the president of the College of Civil Engineers in Sinaloa, Mr. Guzmán’s home state. “Getting it exact is impossible.” | “Listen, it’s a black market for these things,” said Walter Lopez, the president of the College of Civil Engineers in Sinaloa, Mr. Guzmán’s home state. “Getting it exact is impossible.” |
| His back-of-the-envelope estimate, for instance, did not include the cost of the land where Mr. Guzmán emerged from the tunnel, or the unfinished house erected over the exit. What Mr. Lopez is certain of is that however it happened, an engineer was probably involved in some phase of the process. | His back-of-the-envelope estimate, for instance, did not include the cost of the land where Mr. Guzmán emerged from the tunnel, or the unfinished house erected over the exit. What Mr. Lopez is certain of is that however it happened, an engineer was probably involved in some phase of the process. |
| From both ends of the tunnel used to spirit Mr. Guzmán away, the precision beggars the imagination. From a semiconstructed building in the middle of a cornfield into the bathroom floor of his cell in the Altiplano prison, its length is greater than a mile. | From both ends of the tunnel used to spirit Mr. Guzmán away, the precision beggars the imagination. From a semiconstructed building in the middle of a cornfield into the bathroom floor of his cell in the Altiplano prison, its length is greater than a mile. |
| To accommodate the undulations of the land, coated in emerald cornstalks, the workers burrowed more than 30 feet beneath the surface. To ferry some four tons of earth displaced by the dig, they used a motorcycle on rails. To guide their way, and the eventual passage of their patron, they equipped the tunnel with lighting. They even used ventilation shafts, and tested the air quality with a small bird. | To accommodate the undulations of the land, coated in emerald cornstalks, the workers burrowed more than 30 feet beneath the surface. To ferry some four tons of earth displaced by the dig, they used a motorcycle on rails. To guide their way, and the eventual passage of their patron, they equipped the tunnel with lighting. They even used ventilation shafts, and tested the air quality with a small bird. |
| To accomplish something of this magnitude, of course, is serious business. But that happens to be one business that Mr. Guzmán knows quite well. | To accomplish something of this magnitude, of course, is serious business. But that happens to be one business that Mr. Guzmán knows quite well. |
| As the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Mr. Guzmán deployed a vast array of tunnels to ply his trade and stay out of custody: Narcotics flowed through passageways beneath the border of Mexico and the United States, and when the authorities got too close, his homes and safe houses had secret exits that led to underground routes. | As the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Mr. Guzmán deployed a vast array of tunnels to ply his trade and stay out of custody: Narcotics flowed through passageways beneath the border of Mexico and the United States, and when the authorities got too close, his homes and safe houses had secret exits that led to underground routes. |
| But the tunnel constructed beneath a mile of open fields and into the narrow space in his shower floor, the sole spot in his cell not covered by a surveillance camera, is likely the most spectacular feat of all. | But the tunnel constructed beneath a mile of open fields and into the narrow space in his shower floor, the sole spot in his cell not covered by a surveillance camera, is likely the most spectacular feat of all. |
| “This was highly technical and accurate,” said one civil engineer working for the government, who asked not to be named because he was not permitted to speak publicly about the escape. “If they had missed the calculation by one degree, or made one little mistake, Chapo would have emerged in someone’s kitchen” | “This was highly technical and accurate,” said one civil engineer working for the government, who asked not to be named because he was not permitted to speak publicly about the escape. “If they had missed the calculation by one degree, or made one little mistake, Chapo would have emerged in someone’s kitchen” |
| The government has offered tours of the tunnel to journalists, allowing them to examine for themselves the lengths Mr. Guzmán went to for his breakout. | The government has offered tours of the tunnel to journalists, allowing them to examine for themselves the lengths Mr. Guzmán went to for his breakout. |
| To enter the tunnel from the house requires a steep descent straight into the earth, down a wooden ladder. The ladder passes a small landing, where a few mattresses are scattered and an electric generator has been left behind. | To enter the tunnel from the house requires a steep descent straight into the earth, down a wooden ladder. The ladder passes a small landing, where a few mattresses are scattered and an electric generator has been left behind. |
| At the bottom of the shaft, the motorcycle, used to remove dirt and speed Mr. Guzmán along his run, is still there, along with an as yet unexplained red stethoscope. | At the bottom of the shaft, the motorcycle, used to remove dirt and speed Mr. Guzmán along his run, is still there, along with an as yet unexplained red stethoscope. |
| Inside the prison, past phalanxes of security, there is Chapo’s cell on the ground floor. In the spartan room, there are a simple desk, a bed, a sink and a waist-high wall behind which lies the notorious shower. In that small space, carved perfectly, is a jagged square where the final piece of concrete was removed. | Inside the prison, past phalanxes of security, there is Chapo’s cell on the ground floor. In the spartan room, there are a simple desk, a bed, a sink and a waist-high wall behind which lies the notorious shower. In that small space, carved perfectly, is a jagged square where the final piece of concrete was removed. |
| Such precision most likely required some sort of specialist or specialists, not only to evaluate the soil and contours of the landscape surrounding the prison but also to assess the necessary measures required to enter it — like the depth of the passage and what sort of reinforcement was necessary to prevent its collapse. Who provided those skills to the operation, for now at least, also remains a mystery. | Such precision most likely required some sort of specialist or specialists, not only to evaluate the soil and contours of the landscape surrounding the prison but also to assess the necessary measures required to enter it — like the depth of the passage and what sort of reinforcement was necessary to prevent its collapse. Who provided those skills to the operation, for now at least, also remains a mystery. |