Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman

Escape Official

On July 11th, 2015, guards at the Federal Social Readaptation Centre No. 1, made their usual rounds. The Federal Social Readaptation Centre No 1, known as the Altiplano prison for short, is a maximum security prison in Almoloya de Juárez in the State of Mexico. Completed in 1990 and with security features that included 1 metre thick reinforced concrete walls, the Mexican authorities boasted that it was impregnable.

Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, had been incarcerated in the Altiplano prison since 2014. He was awaiting extradition to the US to face charges of drug trafficking and murder. At 8:52 pm, Guzman was seen on the security cameras near the shower area in his cell. This was the last time he was caught on the security cameras. After 25 minutes, prison guards went to Guzman’s cell to look for him. Guzman was gone.