Leaked audio from inside El Chapo's prison cell reportedly shows how obvious his escape was
Mexico National Security Commission/Amanda Macias/Business Insider
A new clip with audio, presented by Mexican broadcaster Televisa, shows just how apparent it should have been to prison guards that, on the night of July 11, the master of tunnels was again going to prove he deserved the title.
In the video, the Sinaloa cartel boss is seen lying on his bed under a blanket while the audio from a Spanish program is heard blaring from a portable television:
At approximately 8:46 p.m., the first sound of drilling is heard over the audio from the television program.The sounds continue for six minutes, when, at 8:52 p.m., Guzmán steps into his cell's private shower and disappears from the camera's view.
Listen carefully at these minute marks - 1:43, 1:47, 1:54, and 2:04
The video also shows a split screen of the prison control room, where agents Juan Carlos Sánchez Garcia and José Daniel Aureoles Tabares were assigned to supervise Guzmán's every move while he was detained in Altiplano prison.
There is no visible reaction in the control room until 25 minutes have passed, when, at 9:17 p.m., an officer crosses the room to look over a collegue's shoulder at the screens:
During the 30-minute delay between when Guzmán stepped out of view and when the guards took notice of his absence, the two federal agents responsible for monitoring surveillance footage from his cell played solitaire.
The clip with audio has not been verified by the Mexican government. The only footage it has released is a clip of Guzmán pacing in his cell before disappearing from view.
The Mexican government's 'levels of complicity'
Amid these charges, Mexico's interior ministry was accused of hiding a video with sounds of power tools and digging, proving that Altiplano prison staff knew of Guzmán's planned escape, EFE Agencia reports.
Mexican Government Photo
"[Prison employees] responsible for monitoring [Guzmán] have been formally charged in recent days, but that's not enough because the mere fact that the sound of a power drill was heard means there were several levels of complicity," he added.
This information prompted Encinas to request access to the full recording with audio, which is held by Mexico's Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN).
"[On September 1] I received a verbal response from the deputy government secretary, Felipe Solis Acero, in which he told me it wasn't possible to provide me with a copy of the video because it was part of a preliminary inquiry, a response that I was expecting but which also means that the video exists," Encinas told EFE Agencia.
Master of tunnels
Reuters
Guzmán slipped through a perfectly placed hole in the blind spot of the lone security camera in his L-shaped prison cell - a 1 1/2 foot by 1 1/2 foot gap in the shower floor that led to a 32-foot ladder into a mile-long tunnel.
Reuters
A motorcycle built onto rails was also placed in the sophisticated passage to transport Guzmán through the tunnel quickly.
Thomson Reuters
The extraordinary escape is estimated to have cost Guzmán $50 million in construction and bribes to prison officials, The Telegraph reports.
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- India Inc marks slowest quarterly revenue growth in January-March 2024: Crisil
- Nothing Phone (2a) India-exclusive Blue Edition launched starting at ₹19,999
- SC refuses to plea seeking postponement of CA exams scheduled in May
- 10 exciting weekend getaways from Delhi within 300 km in 2024
- Foreign tourist arrivals in India will cross pre-pandemic level in 2024
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market