El Chapo’s special treatment in Mexico’s prisons

• El Chapo enjoyed many perks in Mexican prison.
• He received special treatment.
• He was still powerful.

El Chapo Guzmán became the most visible face of the Sinaloa Cartel and his infamous manhunt began early in his criminal career. His popularity contributed to his arrests and even his conviction in the United States. But he also spent some of his moments of glory behind bars. Today we tell you about El Chapo’s influence and power in the prisons of Mexico.

In the past, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel organization, Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera, took advantage of his extreme power over everyone to enjoy privileges that made his imprisonment more luxurious and allowed him to remain number one.

El Chapo’s influence in Mexico’s prisons

At the Federal Center for Social Rehabilitation in Puente Grande, Jalisco, from where he first escaped, El Chapo repeatedly threw parties attended by prison staff and fellow prisoners who wanted share a pleasant time with the capo.

From inside, El Chapo also managed the payroll of prison staff, according to British journalist Malcolm Beth in his book The Last Narco. In this book he recounts that, during a Christmas party, a truck arrived with 500 liters of alcohol that was served at a party sponsored by drug traffickers where they also served shrimp.

He owned the jails

Loera acted as though he owned the prisons and even asked the guards to pour drinks for those attending the parties, according to an interview lawyer José Antonio Sánchez gave to CNN. The lawyer reported that El Chapo was the only inmate who was not handcuffed. He had a personal telephone to order food from outside the prison and often threw parties with alcohol, music and food.

In the same way, he had full access provided by the prison authorities, so he was allowed to walk through every corner of the prison as though he was a guard or even the warden.

El Chapo fell in love in prison

There was a woman who fell in love with El Chapo while they were both imprisoned. Her name was Zulema Hernández and she was an inmate of the women’s prison. Guzmán Loera visited her regularly and, in fact, he was her partner for several years.

Hernández was murdered in December 2008. Authorities blamed the Los Zetas gang, the enemies of El Chapo. Although some others say that it was El Chapo himself who may have her killed in a fit of jealousy.

He ended up escaping

According to El universal, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera escaped from this high-security prison on January 19, 2001, hiding in a laundry cart. Between dirty uniforms he managed to escape successfully.

El Chapo, with the help of an employee, hid among piles of dirty clothes, passed six internal exams and managed to escape. Some rumors say that he left through the front door, others that it was just a stroke of luck that no one saw him.