Mexican drug lord's brazen tunnel escape
Mexico's most prized prisoner, drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, 56, escaped from a maximum security prison for a second time through an elaborate one-mile ventilated, well-lit underground tunnel complete with a motorcycle on rails July 11, 2015. After nearly six months on the run, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto announced January 8, 2016 on Twitter that Guzman was recaptured.
A widespread manhunt that included highway checkpoints, stepped up border security and closure of an international airport failed to turn up any trace of Guzman, the notorious leader of the Sinoloa drug cartel, for nearly six months.
Here's a look at his alleged escape route.
In this photo, a journalist climbs a ladder on July 14, 2015 to get out of the tunnel authorities allege was used by "El Chapo" to escape from a maximum security prison in Almoloya, west of Mexico City.
"El Chapo"
Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by Marines as he is presented to the press in Mexico City after Mexican Marines captured him at a resort in Mazatlan, northern Mexico, February 22, 2014. Guzman had spent more than a decade on the lam after his first escape, from Puente Grande prison in 2001.
The powerful Sinaloa cartel leader is a central figure in the drug war in Mexico and U.S. authorities had sought his extradition from Mexico since his recapture in 2014. A former administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Peter Bensinger, said, "It is a shock that the most dangerous cartel leader in the world has escaped."
"El Chapo"
A federal law enforcement official confirmed this photo is of "El Chapo" after he was taken into custody on January 8, 2016,after nearly six months on the run following his second prison escape.
"El Chapo" escape
A surveillance video released by Mexico's National Security Commission July 15, 2015 shows the moment Guzman escaped from his Mexican jail cell, July 11, 2015. Guzman is seen pacing before he disappears from view behind a wall where he climbed into a tunnel below the shower area.
Prison cell of "El Chapo"
A view of the cell in the Altiplano maximum security prison July 15, 2015 where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was held and from which he escaped, allegedly, through a tunnel, in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico on July 11, 2105.
Prison cell of "El Chapo"
View of the shower and toilet in Altiplano maximum security prison July 15, 2015 where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was held prior to escaping allegedly through a tunnel below the shower (seen here on left) on July 11, 2015 in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
Federal police guard a drainage pipe outside of the Altiplano maximum security prison in Almoloya, west of Mexico City, July 12, 2015.
Mexico's most powerful drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman allegedly escaped from a maximum security prison through a tunnel that opened into the shower area of his cell.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
The tunnel allegedly used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape from the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary, terminates at an unfinished building in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico, July 12, 2015.
Guzman's escape is his second jail break in 14 years. The kingpin was last seen in his cell in Altiplano prison, in central Mexico, late on the evening of July 11, 2015 before disappearing.
Guzman rose from humble origins to become one of the most powerful drug barons in history.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A motorcycle rigged to two cars on rails sits in the tunnel under the half-built house where, according to authorities, "El Chapo" Guzman made his escape from the Altiplano maximum security prison in Almoloya, west of Mexico City, July 14, 2015.
It appeared that no expense was spared in creating the means of escape. A tunnel of such sophistication would normally take 18 months to two years to complete, said Jim Dinkins, former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. But Guzman was behind bars barely 16 months.
"When it's for the boss, you probably put that on high speed," Dinkins said.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A motorcycle on rails inside the alleged escape tunnel that was constructed three stories underground through dirt and rock. The tunnel was built just high enough for the man called "Shorty" to stand without hitting his head.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
On July 14, 2015, a journalist reports from the exit of the tunnel that, according to authorities, drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary in Almoloya, west of Mexico City.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A police cordon is seen around a building hiding the opening of a tunnel that connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary and was believed to have been used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape, in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 12, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape
Aerial picture taken July 15, 2015 of the building that hid the tunnel allegedly used by Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape from the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico on July 11, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A soldier and policemen keep watch outside an unfinished bodega built to hide the tunnel connecting to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 12, 2015.
Mexico's most notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, broke out of a maximum security prison on the night of July 11, 2015, escaping in a tunnel built right under his cell, a huge embarrassment for the Mexican government. It's believed that "El Chapo" snuck out of the prison through a subterranean tunnel more than 1.5 km (1 mile) long that ended in a building site in the local town, according to National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A view of a hook in a tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 14 , 2015. Guzman allegedly climbed a wooden ladder through a large, wood-framed shaft with this winch overhead, that was used to drop construction supplies into the tunnel.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A view of an opening in a tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary and allegedly used by "El Chapo" Guzman to escape in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 14, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
The wood-framed shaft in the tunnel leading to the winch in Almoloya, Mexico, July 14, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
Discarded clothing and shoes are seen inside the property connected to the tunnel leading from Altiplano Federal Penitentiary in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 12, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
An investigator inspects the tunnel through which Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may have escaped from the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico on July 15, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
Journalists work inside a warehouse containing a tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary and allegedly used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape, in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 14, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A photo of the tunnel through which Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman allegedly used to escape from the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico, taken on July 15, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A flashlight illuminates a judicial worker as he shines a torch into an area of the tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary and used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape, in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 14, 2015.
"El Chapo" escape
After pulling himself up 17 rungs, Guzman reached a small basement, where a blue power generator the size of a compact car provided the electricity to illuminate and pump oxygen into the underground escape route shown in this July 15, 2015 photo.
"El Chapo" escape
Some of the tools and equipment probably used to make the tunnel that Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman allegedly used to escape from Altiplano Federal Penitentiary on July 11, 2015 in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico.
Altiplano Federal Penitentiary
Policemen keep watch at the back of the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from, in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 14, 2015.
Mexican authorities must have colluded with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to enable the country's top drug lord to escape from the maximum security prison, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said on July 13, 2015. Guzman's disappearance sparked a massive manhunt.
Altiplano Federal Penitentiary
Mexican police cordon off half-finished buildings near a maximum security prison Altiplano in Almoloya, west of Mexico City, Sunday, July 12, 2015. Mexico's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, escaped from a maximum security prison through a tunnel accessed from the shower area of his cell and led to this building site.
"El Chapo" escape tunnel
A soldier keeps watch outside a building containing an opening to a tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 14 , 2015.
Guzman is so powerful that the Chicago Crime Commission labeled him "Public Enemy No. 1"... a designation bestowed on criminals such as American gangster Al Capone. Chicago, along with several other American cities have indicted Guzman on drug trafficking charges.
Altiplano Federal Penitentiary
Federal police check a building at the end of the tunnel through which Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman allegedly escaped from the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico on July 12, 2015.
Altiplano Federal Penitentiary
Federal Police officers patrol the perimeter of the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico, on July 13, 2015 two days after the government announced the escape of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman from the maximum-security prison.
Mexican security forces scrambled July 13 to save face and recapture drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman as authorities investigated whether guards helped him escape prison through a tunnel under his cell.
First escape
A Mexican Marine lifts a bathtub that leads to a tunnel and exits in the city's drainage system at one of the houses of Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman in Culiacan, February 27, 2014.
In 2001, Guzman engineered an escape from Puente Grande prison through a tunnel in a bathroom and spent more than a decade on the run.
Guzman's use of tunnels, both as escape routes and to transport drugs, is legendary. Just days before he was recaptured on February 22, 2014 following his first prison escape in 2001, he evaded authorities through a series of tunnels hidden under the bathtub of his safe house. He was caught in a raid in the beachside resort and fishing center of Mazatlan, 125 miles southeast of Culiacan, just days after escaping from the clutches of Mexican troops through the tunnel and sewers.
Now on the run again, authorities have found no trace of Guzman so far.