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El Chapo's Crummy Jail Cell

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 09:47:33 AM EST
Tags: El Chapo (all tags)
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I'm sure everyone has seen this video by now of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman pacing in his cell before disappearing while bending down over the hole in his shower floor.

Two questions: Why did they release this photo of him when he clearly has hair in the video?

The photos of his jail cell are very disturbing. It is a filthy horrid place. Who wouldn't want to escape from this hellhole prison? [More....]

His toilet is a hole in the ground:

The sink and shower are filthy (and the sink's faucet is dripping.

The cell is very small, here they are in one shot:

Here's the security camera:

And how did he get a computer tablet in his cell? I thought they didn't allow that or have internet back there?

Here's the hole in the floor of the shower area:

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    El Chapo's Crummy Jail Cell | 58 comments (58 topical)

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    Poor baby (5.00 / 3) (#2)
    by jbindc on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 10:09:13 AM EST
    Make billions of dollars by trafficking drugs and being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, and you are put in a cell, not a suite at The Plaza.  

    And you're upset about this, seriously??

    El Chapo is a bad, bad man.  He's not "misunderstood".  He wouldn't be an honest broker if we just legalized drugs.  He is just bad and has done horrendous, unspeakable things, and he deserves no more than a cell.  

    But if you kill... (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by kdog on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 11:40:59 AM EST
    hundreds of thousands of people while making your friends billions of dollars, you do get to stay at the plaza with the Secret Service providing personal private security. And a pension.  And a library.  

    Some bad men are more equal than others.

     

    Parent

    Send your complaints to Nancy Pelosi (none / 0) (#9)
    by jbindc on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 12:04:41 PM EST


    Parent
    while I'm not crying over this person (none / 0) (#16)
    by CST on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 04:03:35 PM EST
    in particular, and recognizing Scott's point below about other countries and their abilities to provide decent homes even for non-criminals -

    I don't think the condition of prisons should be based on what people "deserve".  I think they should be based on how we as a society choose to treat other people.  Lock them up so they can't hurt anyone.  Vengeance holds no value beyond that.

    Keeping in mind as well, that most people in prison are not El Chapo, and that this is probably standard fare for prisons in that area.

    Parent

    Jeralyn, I don't get your... (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by NycNate on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 10:22:01 AM EST
    fascination with this guy.  He is a bad guy.  Your fawning over him sends quite the message to an impressionable mind.  

    When did drug dealers responsible for the murder of many become heroes?  I say that regardless of my stance that drugs should be legal.  

    Some people (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by CoralGables on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 10:44:16 AM EST
    will always have a preoccupation for bad guys. Although odd, it's not uncommon. It's fandom in a weird sort of way.

    Parent
    According to an articleb (none / 0) (#17)
    by oculus on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 05:44:02 PM EST
    re Affleck/Lawrence, Ms. Lawrence fell for one.  

    Parent
    Garner? (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by CoralGables on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 06:03:48 PM EST


    Parent
    I believe Jeralyn's (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 11:25:08 AM EST
    view, as mine, is that imprisonment is a penalty under the criminal justice system.  It takes away liberty and freedom.  However, jails are not to extract cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.  Overcrowding, violence, sexual abuse and punishment through risks to prisoner health and safety should not be a way to 'get back."  

    Now, I have no specific comment on the Mexican prison or the criminal who escaped, but belittling concern or ascribing lurid fascination to it all, particularly to someone who cares, is offensive to morality and decency.

    Parent

    I Would Add a Qualifier... (none / 0) (#10)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 12:28:47 PM EST
    ...jails in the US legal system are not suppose to(your statement).  Not defending the 3rd world prisons, just saying that they could very well be designed 'to extract cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment'.

    I also think you need more than a picture to determine that, not that there isn't trucks full of data backing it, but in this case I think the jail reflects the differences in wealth in that a US prison cell is probably nicer than many dwellings in 3rd world countries.  I don't like the idea that every country, regardless of wealth, should store prisoners in like-US conditions.

    Our standards, as much as we want, can't be applied to places with little wealth, nor can our criminal justice system standards be applied to other countries in terms of the purpose of confinement.

    While that place looks like a hell-hole, and probably is, let's be honest about Guzman.  He didn't exactly spend his life there, and the idea that if the place had been nicer he wouldn't have escaped, which was implied, is a little over-the-top.

    Who wouldn't want to escape from this hellhole prison?

    Guzman was going to try to escape even if they let him build his own prison IMO.

    No real point other than the standards of attorneys in the US, who truly care and are humane people, should at the very least, be weighted with the wealth of 3rd world nations.  I am not trying, but probably am, to diminish what you or Jeralyn are writing, but dang man, it's hard enough to get descent facilities in the US were wealth is in abundance.  Faulting a 3rd world nation for not having spent enough on their prisons is a very selective and simple view, IMO.

    Parent

    According to the Onion, El Chapo's next warden (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 11:08:55 PM EST
    vows to take away El Chapo's Tunnel privileges.

    That'll show 'em.

    Parent

    That Was Funny (none / 0) (#30)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 08:21:18 AM EST
    I was thinking yesterday that the Mexican authorities should have just old everyone he was out on work release.

    Parent
    Jeez, I don't see this as fascination (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by Green26 on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 11:14:42 AM EST
    She's interested and providing the site with interesting information. I find it all very interesting too. I'm not spending any time looking for the details, but I appreciate seeing the details put into one place for easy reading.

    Well, (none / 0) (#11)
    by Reconstructionist on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 01:24:08 PM EST
     all I can suggest is that anyone who does not see the fangirl fascination (which looks  a lot like cheering) is turning a blind eye.

       More troubling is the presumably intentional misleading of the audience with comments such as the one that he has been held 14 months without a trial.

       He hasn't yet been tried for the crimes he committed AFTER HE ESCAPED  the first time while serving a 20 year sentence imposed  for his prior crime. Obviously, he is still serving that  sentence and would be subject to being lawfully imprisoned even in the absence of new charges arising from post-escape conduct.

    Of course, the idea that 14 months pretrial detention is unusual or unfair is false. Even here with our relatively efficient and fast-moving legal system that would not be out of the ordinary in a complex case.

    Parent

    At least in CA state court, no one could (none / 0) (#13)
    by oculus on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 03:47:47 PM EST
    be detained for that long pending trial unless the person waived his or her right to a speedy trial.

    Parent
    Again (none / 0) (#20)
    by Reconstructionist on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 08:01:38 PM EST
     He was previously convicted and sentenced. HE ESCAPED BEFORE. He still has not finished the FIRST SENTENCE!!

    Parent
    The final sentence of the comment (none / 0) (#21)
    by oculus on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 08:22:19 PM EST
    to which I replied is misleading then.

    Parent
    Please don't shout (none / 0) (#24)
    by Zorba on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 08:43:41 PM EST
    All caps amount to internet shouting and they hurt our eyes.
    Thanking you in advance for your consideration.
    Namaste.

    Parent
    Dunno. I actually didn't get it until the caps... (none / 0) (#36)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 11:19:53 AM EST
    ...but then again I'm kinda thick headed.

    Parent
    Oh, I would have gotten it (none / 0) (#44)
    by Zorba on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 02:46:41 PM EST
    without the all caps.
    All caps, as I said, hurt my eyes, and all they do is make me think that the poster cannot make a reasonable argument, and uses all caps to obfuscate this.

    Parent
    ya, as I said I'm thick headed, so it helped me. (none / 0) (#48)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 03:52:15 PM EST
    Is it just me or has the original commentary regarding the length of time el Chapo had been incarcerated before this escape been deleted?

    Parent
    He was last captured in 2014, in Matzatlan (none / 0) (#49)
    by Mr Natural on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 04:59:58 PM EST
    if that's any help.


    Parent
    Thanks, I believe he escaped after 14 months, (none / 0) (#50)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 05:10:44 PM EST
    this time.

    iirc, the whole reason we are discussing the 14 months is because someone, our host I believe, made a comment something along the lines of "14 months in prison with no trial is (inhumane/bad/whatever)."

    I do not see that comment any more, perhaps it was deleted.

    Anyway, the point being made above is that he was back in prison to serve out the time he was originally sentenced to, which he had evaded by his first prison escape.

    Parent

    lol; it's "Catch and Release" (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by Mr Natural on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 05:20:18 PM EST
    Fishcamp?

    Parent
    Exaxtly (2.00 / 1) (#52)
    by Reconstructionist on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 05:39:47 AM EST
      I don't know why that is so hard for SOME to get. It's not that I can't make a decent argument it's that some can't grasp simple facts.

    I merely highlighted  simple facts, not argumentative language. And, I never used ALL caps. Those kinds of responses to my post  are just silly whiny complaints.

    Parent

    Any time that you use (none / 0) (#53)
    by Zorba on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 02:04:02 PM EST
    all capital letters in one sentence or even one phrase, as opposed to where caps are normally used, it's obnoxious and inappropriate.
    I'm not whining about it.  I'm telling you that you are being inappropriate.
    You may certainly disagree.  Have at it.

    Parent
    I don't know (5.00 / 2) (#54)
    by oculus on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 03:14:16 PM EST
    why this is so hard for some to get.  

    Parent
    Oc, it certainly (none / 0) (#55)
    by Zorba on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 03:19:33 PM EST
    beats the heck out of me.  All I know is that, not only do I not like the excessive use of caps, but a whole heck of a lot of people do not like it either.
    It would seem to me that, if you have a cogent thought to post or argument or disagreement to make, your words should stand by themselves, without the "all caps," (or, as some seem to like to do, the "all bolding").


    Parent
    I AGREE... (none / 0) (#56)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 04:04:40 PM EST
    ...WITH YOUR COMMENTS 110%.

    Just playing, but I get a couple emails every week at work where someone uses all caps.  They are hard to read, but I don't think it's anymore than some folks not understanding email etiquette.  I also receive many emails in which people decide to use a theme, some are OK, most bothersome as the reply generally follows the format, and writing in purple kinda loses the professional work environment feel.

    But beyond that, my number one pet peeve is the god non-sense.  Either a some version of 'god bless' or for the truly diluted, some bible verse I can only assume they think relates to work.  

    I work at an international company with many people obviously not being christians and the tone deafness really bothers me, they surely know that many are not believers in their faith and don't care.  The idea that the signature area is meant to divulge, to everyone, your personal beliefs really bugs me and if I have a choice, those emails are put at the end of my to-do list.


    Parent

    Hahahahaha! (none / 0) (#57)
    by Zorba on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 05:06:25 PM EST
    Well, God bless, Scott.
    Okay, I'm just kidding, too.   ;-)
    I cannot understand this, especially since you are working at an international company.  But even if you were not, there are plenty of people just in this country who are not Christian, who are Jewish, or Muslim, or Sikh, or Hindu, or Buddhist or no religion whatsoever.
    Oh, I don't know.
    Maybe you should start replying to them:  "May the Flying Spaghetti Monster touch you with His Noodly Appendage, and may the sauce be with you. R'Amen."


    Parent
    In defense of the Christian letter writers...... (5.00 / 1) (#58)
    by NYShooter on Fri Jul 17, 2015 at 08:42:07 PM EST
    I truly believe that they believe they're communicating irrefutable, undebatable, and, settled dogma. In their cloistered circle of friends, relatives, and acquaintances, the New Testament's version of religious evolution is a fact of life, as uncontroversial as the sun's rising in the East. I've witnessed too many of these Christians, wearing their "Christ is Lord" theology on their sleeves, yet greeting their Jewish associates in a sincere, earnest, non-proselytizing manner.

    It didn't happen to me very often, I was a rough, tough marine, and, everyone knows there aren't any Jewish Marines. But, it happened more often to my father, who looked more the part. And when someone greeted him in that sort of religious manner, he just smiled appreciatively, nodded his head, and said something like thank you, or, you too. The point is, it's always about, "motive." If the greeting isn't pushy, or demanding in some way, just let it go; No harm, no foul.  

    Parent

    Hair can be cut (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Reconstructionist on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 11:59:51 AM EST
      It's not at all unusual for pictures to be disseminated showing how a person has looked at different times because, obviously, a person on the run might take steps to change his appearance.

    He's also married to an American citizen (none / 0) (#29)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 08:13:21 AM EST
    I'm sure it would be easy for him to sneak in here and blend in.  He certainly has the cash for it.

    Parent
    That cell is quite spacious by CA standards. (none / 0) (#1)
    by oculus on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 09:58:18 AM EST
    Can't remember the name of the institution, but there is frequent news coverage of one Mexican prison where inmates who have the resources emplot their own cooks and have many amenities not provided by the government.

    The toilet is unfortunately not uncommon in locations outside the U.S.  

    I'd like to see the piling on... (none / 0) (#12)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 03:41:25 PM EST
    restricted to those people who can honestly say they have never consumed any of the drugs that passed through Cartel hands.

    Me?  I'll cop to having quite happily consumed, in my misspent youth, a few of the name brands: Oaxacan and Michoacán.  Once in a long while I was lucky enough to tangle with product from the state separating those two.

    What have we learned since then?  That almost everything was controlled and moved by the Cartels.  Whether you were smoking it, snorting it, or shooting it, you were funding it.

    (Raises hand) (none / 0) (#14)
    by jbindc on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 03:49:45 PM EST
    Never had the desire to try any of them and destroy brain cells.

    So, I guess I get to pile on hard, huh?

    Parent

    jb, you're good to go. Have fun. (none / 0) (#22)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 08:38:02 PM EST


    Parent
    Then, to what do you credit (none / 0) (#23)
    by NYShooter on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 08:39:23 PM EST
    the diminution of said brain cells?

    .
    .
    .
    hee, hee, I hope you know I'm just teasing, jbindc
    .
    .
    .
    (don't you?)

    Parent

    Reading some of the comments here have done it. :) (none / 0) (#31)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 08:23:11 AM EST
    (You know who I'm talking about, past and present, and no, it just isn't one person).  :)

    From the movie Billy Madison:

    Principal: Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

    Billy Madison: Okay, a simple "wrong" would've done just fine.



    Parent
    It's called devils advocacy, jb. (none / 0) (#38)
    by Mr Natural on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 12:42:41 PM EST
    Caricature.  I'm holding up a mirror.

    What we're looking at are the results of decades of doubling down on stupidity and failed policies.

    At this point, the violence of narco-repressors and narco-trafficantes are symbiotic.  The encroachment of America's police state upon the world at large as well as on Liberty in America itself is a direct effect.  There will be little freedom left after they're done making us "safe."

    So if I seem to be chuckling while El Chapo makes his Antiheroic escape, it's because the whole situation underlines the stupidity of the Keystone-Kops on the other side.

    Parent

    Guilty conscience? (none / 0) (#40)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 01:02:31 PM EST
    I wasn't actually referring to you.

    But you call them the Keystone Kops.  I say they get it right so many, many times every day.

    And I think it's a native position to day. "If we jusy legalize drugs, these guys will be put out of business and the violence will stop.". No it won't.  Seems to me mobsters mafe it big during Prohibition, then alcohol was legal again.  Guess what?  Mobsters (and cartels - same thing) just divetsified their portfolios and have gotten stronger - a lot of it because of drugs. But sex slavery, human trafficking. And corruption through regular business.

    These cockroaches aren't going away.

    Parent

    Don't you enjoy a cocktail? (none / 0) (#33)
    by kdog on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 08:59:16 AM EST
    Brain cell murderer!!! j/k

    I used to buy Mexican brick way back when, but now it's all domestic baby!  But I'd say prohibition led me to the arms of cartels, I didn't ask to get my sh*t from greedy brutal capitalists, nor my health insurance for that matter...but it was the only game in town at that time.  And at least the product the cartels move gives people pleasure, more than I can say for the pure pain the bank is selling.

    Parent

    Ew. No (none / 0) (#34)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 10:01:17 AM EST
    I can't stand the taste of liquor.  I may have a few sips of ice cold beer in a year, but that's all I really want.  I wish I liked wine, because it's a very social thing to do and talk about, but alas, I do not.  (I also don't drink coffee for the same reason - it smells amazing but dies not taste as good!).

    And no, I don't drink pop either.  Don't need the caffeine.

    Parent

    Henceforth... (none / 0) (#35)
    by kdog on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 10:19:31 AM EST
    your new nickname is JB Mormon.

    Parent
    Nope (none / 0) (#41)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 01:04:19 PM EST
    Raised Catholic, where we even drink wine every week at mass!

    Parent
    caffeine is the only drug (none / 0) (#37)
    by CST on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 12:31:29 PM EST
    I've ever been addicted to.  I can't go a day without coffee without a massive headache.  It's not pleasant.  I don't drink soda either but that's because it's overly sweet.  No idea what pop is ;)

    I'm safe from Mexican cartels I think.  Always stayed away from the harder stuff.  As for my vices, I always stuck to the local variety, much better that way anyway.

    Coffee - that's the one that got me good.  The only one I really have a hard time doing without.  Do the cartels control coffee?  I hope not... or at least not the fair trade stuff.  I don't even like shopping at Walmart...

    Parent

    I was surprised by the Cartel history... (none / 0) (#39)
    by Mr Natural on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 12:58:48 PM EST
    Before reading about the Cartels I'd had this New Riders of the Purple Sage image of Important-Exportin men buying direct from farmers like on the fair trade coffee labels, then sneaking it themselves across the border.  But with the various Cartel's strangleholds on production and transport that seem to have been developed well back into the seventies, that idea seems naive.  

    I'm talking specifically about pot.  Pot was fun.  I never ventured near the deeper, deadly waters.  I don't know if it was because I never wanted to, never needed to, because I couldn't afford it, or more likely, because I didn't know the wrong people.

    Parent

    Ha ha! (none / 0) (#42)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    I don't drink soda (also known as "club soda") either.  ;)

    Water, iced tea, milk.  That's it.


    Parent

    I've got you beat. (none / 0) (#43)
    by Mr Natural on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 01:52:00 PM EST
    I don't watch TV.

    Parent
    Wow. No idea what pop is. (none / 0) (#45)
    by oculus on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 02:47:55 PM EST
    Never lived in the Midwest I bet.

    Parent
    I was joking (none / 0) (#46)
    by CST on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 02:53:05 PM EST
    Pretty sure everyone knows what pop means.

    Does Pittsburgh count?  I feel like it's on the line, but not quite sure what side.  Probably depends who you ask.

    Parent

    I know you were (none / 0) (#47)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 02:58:33 PM EST
    And it's definitely "pop" in Pittsburgh.

    Parent
    same here (none / 0) (#15)
    by nyjets on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 03:59:23 PM EST
    I have my vices. BUt taking drugs or drinking is not one of them


    Parent
    Do we really know (none / 0) (#19)
    by fishcamp on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 07:05:21 PM EST
    Those horrible photos of his cell are the truth.  If you have a billion dollars your jail cell is not going to look like the one in the photos.  The cell is bogus as is the tunnel...he was spirited out with Pesos, Euros, and Dollars.

    Parent
    Hmmm. The skinhead look in Jeralyn's photo... (none / 0) (#25)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 09:00:04 PM EST
    would allow El Chapo to blend in very nicely with  American cops.

    I haven't been to Mexico in a while but from the look of the Youtube videos I've watched, it seems they adopted American style in Narco-policing more or less completely.  They imitate that bizarre prancing walk American cops do with their assault rifles pressed to their chests.  They wear the Nazi field helmets.

    With that in mind, I'd bet that many of them have also adopted the AmeriCop skinhead look.

    Skinheads in Nazi helmets... what is wrong with this picture?

    The reason I mention that?  On an earlier El Chapo thread I posted links to a post escape Youtube video of the prison guards running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  Most were covered in SWAT/Extraction team/Gitmo gear, even masked, doing that weird gun-to-chest horsie prance.  But one guy ran opposite the flow, then slowed to a walk, all within view of the camera.

    Which might have been completely innocent, but below that video someone commented - that he looked a lot like El Chapo....

    Parent

    (shaking my fist at the sky)... (none / 0) (#32)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jul 16, 2015 at 08:29:57 AM EST
    ...and shouting, "Damn you ScottW, I knew that drug use was going to have consequences..."

    Man, I can't pile on because I just couldn't say 'no'.

    Parent

    I don't think we'll have to worry about ... (none / 0) (#26)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 09:29:24 PM EST
    ... El Chapo once again seeing the inside of a prison cell in his lifetime.

    Given that this wasn't the first time he's escaped, and the fact that the cartel-instigated violence in Mexico is approaching the levels of civil insurrection, I would not be at all surprised were President Enrique Peña Nieto to quietly order that Joaquín Guzmán Loera be shot on sight by Mexican security and military personnel.

    This has long ceased being a criminal problem. With 110,000+ Mexicans dead as a direct result of this carnage, this is war, and the very survival of Mexico's fragile democracy likely hangs in the balance.

    And in that regard, I don't think it's at all in our country's best interest to allow a hyper-violent narcostate to become established along our southern frontier. If conservatives think we have a problem with undocumented immigrants now, just wait until they see what awaits us should the government in Mexico City topple, or otherwise becomes irrelevant to the general governance of the country.

    Aloha.

    So, legalize. (none / 0) (#28)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Jul 15, 2015 at 11:13:21 PM EST


    Parent
    El Chapo's Crummy Jail Cell | 58 comments (58 topical)

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