Former Prison Officials Among 13 Arrested In El Chapo Prison Break

Notorious Drug Lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman
A reward poster for notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Friday, Celina Oseguera, Mexico's former head of federal prisons, was among 13 arrested in connection to Guzman's July escape. Image from DEA

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 19 (UPI) — Mexican authorities arrested 13 additional suspects Friday in connection to the July prison break of notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Celina Oseguera, a coordinator for Mexico’s prison system, and Valentin Cardenas Lerma and Leonor Garcia, directors at Altiplano prison where Guzman was held, were among those arrested. All 13 were employees of the federal prison system.

Guzman, who is also wanted in the United States for drug crimes, escaped from Altiplano prison on July 11 through an elaborate hole dug in a shower stall and a mile-long tunnel equipped with a motorcycle, lights and ventilation. It was his second escape from a maximum security prison. The first was 2001 and it took Mexican authorities some 13 years to catch him.

Federal investigators have now said they have video of Guzman’s escape and there was a one-way mirror in Guzman’s cell to monitor his activities, two pieces of information officials withheld immediately after Guzman’s escape. The video allegedly contains sounds of a machinery drilling a hole through the cell floor.

In early September, two Mexican prison employees and two members of Mexico’s secret service were charged with aiding in the escape.

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