Cold Open

It’s the early hours of January 8th, 2016, in Los Mochis, a city in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico.

Inside a safe house, drug lord Joaquín Guzmán snaps awake at the sound of shouting. Adrenaline floods through his body. He creeps toward a window to look outside… but a burst of gunfire makes him jump back. With a sinking feeling, Joaquín realizes that the police have finally caught up with him. But fortunately, he has a plan.

Joaquín yanks open a door to the closet. There, inset into the floor is a hatch that leads to a sewer. Before he descends into the dark tunnel, Joaquín commands one of his lieutenants, Orso Ivan Gastélum, to come with him.

The two men quickly climb down the ladder, close the hatch, and start running through the dirty water.

When Joaquín judges that they’ve run far enough, he and Orso climb out of the sewer and emerge near the city center. Orso approaches a cab driver, draws a gun, and commands the driver to get out. Then, Orso and Joaquín jump in… and speed off, happy to have made an escape.

For more than twenty years, Joaquín Guzmán has been Mexico’s most notorious criminal—although many know him better by his nickname: “El Chapo.” Under Joaquín’s leadership, the Sinaloa drug cartel has become the wealthiest criminal organization in Mexico.

And as Joaquín speeds away from Los Mochis in a stolen car, he’s confident that he’s escaped the latest raid unscathed. But the police are already on his tail. Before the day is out, authorities will track him down, and after years of ruling the illegal narcotics trade, the criminal career of Joaquín “El Chapo" Guzmán will finally come to an end when he is arrested for the third and final time on January 8th, 2016.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is January 8th, 2016: The Capture of Drug Lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Act One: Special Treatment

It’s November 22nd, 1993, at the Puente Grande, maximum security prison in Jalisco, Mexico; twenty-three years before Joaquín Guzmán will flee a police raid on his safe house.

Prison guards firmly grip Joaquín’s arms as they lead him to a cell. Joaquín has just been given a twenty-year sentence for drug trafficking and bribery. It’s a huge fall from grace for a man who was rising rapidly in Mexico’s criminal underworld.

Since the 1980s, Joaquín has been a mid-level operative of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which for the last four years, has been embroiled in a turf war with a rival drug-running operation, the Tijuana cartel. Six months ago, the vicious conflict reached a new low when Tijuana gunmen fired dozens of shots into what they thought was Joaquín's car. But the occupant was actually the innocent Archbishop of Guadalajara.

After this Joaquín fled abroad to avoid the crackdown on organized crime that followed the Archbishop's death, but Joaquin was soon recognized and arrested in Guatemala. Now, he’s spending his first night behind bars as a convicted criminal.

And as the guards lock him in his cell, Joaquín vows that nothing—not even this maximum security prison—will hold him back. Joaquín knows from his experience running a drug operation that there’s always somebody willing to accept a bribe—and a maximum security prison is no different.

So, over the next year, Joaquín identifies the prison guards who are most likely to accept his advances. He gives them cash and luxury goods in exchange for lenient treatment. The guards even turn a blind eye to Joaquín running his drug smuggling enterprise from his jail cell. And by 1995, two years into his twenty-year sentence, Joaquín has gained so much influence that he’s named the head of the Sinaloa cartel.

But Joaquín’s comfortable existence in prison comes to an end six years later in 2001, when the Supreme Court of Mexico makes a new ruling that allows convicts like Joaquín to be extradited to the United States to face drug charges. Being sent to a US prison would endanger Joaquín’s control of the Sinaloa cartel. So, Joaquín makes a decision. He's gonna break out of jail.

Luckily for him, he’s already got the helpers he needs in his pocket. With the assistance of several bribed prison guards, Joaquín escapes from the maximum security prison that's been his home for years. Exactly how Joaquín gets out is unclear. Some claim he was smuggled out in a laundry hamper, others say he simply walked out as guards looked the other way. Whatever the case, Joaquín regains his freedom.

But he's still a fugitive on the run. So, Joaquín keeps a low profile and is rarely seen in public. While behind the scenes, he continues to rule the Sinaloa cartel with an iron fist. He orders the assassination of rival drug lords. Members of other cartels are gunned down in the streets. Mexican police and investigators who get too close are also killed, and in total, tens of thousands of people are murdered as a result of Joaquín’s ruthless tactics, and the Sinaloa cartel becomes the de-facto leader in the drug trade, making a fortune smuggling methamphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine across the border to the United States.

But the more powerful the Sinaloa cartel becomes, the more Joaquín is seen as a threat by both the Mexican and the United States governments. In 2004, the US designates Joaquín as their number-one target in the War on Drugs, offering a $5 million reward for any information leading to his arrest. But the multi-million dollar bounty does little to stop the Sinaloa cartel from dominating the drugs trade. By 2009, Joaquín’s net worth is estimated to be $1 billion. And the kingpin seems untouchable, with Mexican police having no idea where he’s hiding out.

So, over the next few years, Joaquín will continue to elude the clutches of law enforcement, and the more the authorities escalate their efforts, the more daring Joaquín will become in his methods of escape. But eventually, Joaquín’s overconfidence will put him behind bars again.

Act Two: The Big Leagues

It’s January 10th, 2012, at the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, DC; four years before Joaquín Guzmán will be captured.

Adam Szubin, the American Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, stands before a packed room of journalists and clears his throat. He’s used to speaking to reporters, but not a crowd of this size. Before him, a teaming mass of media clamor for new information about the notorious drug lord: Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

For over a decade, drug enforcement agencies in both Mexico and the United States have tried and failed to dismantle the Sinaloa drug cartel. And while law enforcement agencies struggled to find the cartel’s boss, Joaquín’s influence and power only increased further.

And for many Mexicans, Joaquín’s ability to evade capture turned him into a sort of folk hero. He became the subject of songs and ballads, and many see him as a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing money from the rich and spending it in local communities. But today, Director Szubin hopes to tip the balance back toward the government.

Director Szubin circulates a press release containing Joaquín’s mugshot, his identifying features, and a long list of his crimes. Szubin emphasizes the impact of illegal drug smuggling on both the United States and Mexico. He follows up with a public appeal for any information about Joaquín’s whereabouts, and Director Szubin is willing to pay for a good lead. Plastered over the press release is the life-changing amount of $7 million – available for anyone who contributes to Joaquín’s arrest.

But Director Szubin isn’t just going after Joaquín. To put more pressure on the Sinaloa cartel, Szubin announces that four other key members of Joaquín’s organization have been identified and placed under sanctions using the Kingpin Act. This relatively new law allows the US government to freeze the assets of known members of criminal organizations. And with this, Director Szubin hopes to hinder the operation of the Sinaloa cartel while simultaneously forcing Joaquín to keep an even lower profile.

And indeed, following Director Szubin’s public appeal, Joaquín stays out of sight, hiding in Sinaloa safe houses in the Sierra Madre Mountains, only moving between them in heavily guarded armored cars. But although pressure from the United States forces Joaquín into deeper hiding, it does little to stop the Sinaloa cartel’s dominance of the narcotics trade, and the amount of drugs crossing the border continues to increase.

But after two years spent in isolated safe houses, Joaquín gets restless. Tired of the constant drudgery of life in hiding, Joaquín travels to the beach town of Mazatlán to visit family. There Mexican Marines and the US Drug Enforcement Agency raid Joaquín's ex-wife's house. But Joaquín narrowly escapes, finding another hiding place in Mazatlán. Six days later, police receive new intelligence that Joaquín is staying at a beachfront hotel. And this time, their second raid is successful.

Joaquín is apprehended and taken to another maximum security prison in Mexico to await trial. But the wheels of justice turn slowly and over the course of the next year, operatives from Joaquín's Sinaloa cartel dig a tunnel from a construction site one mile away. They evade prison authorities by digging over ten yards underground, and by breaking into Joaquín’s cell underneath the shower—the only place not covered by security cameras. On the evening of July 11th, 2015, Joaquín climbs down a ladder and rides a motorcycle through the escape tunnel to freedom.

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán's second breakout from a maximum security prison sparks a nationwide manhunt. Joaquín goes back into hiding, but he takes more risks than before. He sits for an interview with Hollywood actor Sean Penn, and he escapes a raid on a Sinaloa mountain ranch only because a helicopter pilot chooses not to fire on him out of fear of hitting women and children.

But eventually, Joaquín's luck will run out. While both Mexico and the United States will put vast resources into his capture, it will be a faulty car engine that will ultimately bring down the world’s most powerful drug trafficker.

Act Three: The Last Run

It’s the early hours of January 8th, 2016, in Los Mochis, Mexico.

A Mexican Marine officer stealthily approaches a suspected Sinaloa safe house. The officer moves as quietly as possible. He doesn’t want to ruin the best lead the authorities have had in their search for the infamous “El Chapo”.

Seven months ago, Joaquín escaped prison a second time. Agents from twenty-two different departments in the Mexican and US governments have tried to locate him, to no avail—until today. Only a few hours ago, agents spotted Joaquín driving to a safe house in a pickup truck.

This safe house was previously investigated. And the authorities know it contains a secret escape tunnel. But they don’t know exactly where it leads. So, as the Mexican Marine officer creeps towards the safe house, he hopes to get inside with his men and arrest Joaquín before he can run to the tunnel.

But unfortunately, a Sinaloa guard spots one of the Marines. Gunfire shatters the silence of night, and with the element of surprise gone, the officer is forced to act fast. He leaves a small team of Marines to pin down the gunmen inside the safe house. But he splits off another group and holds them in reserve, hoping to intercept Joaquín when he emerges from the tunnel, wherever that might be.

And within minutes, the officer hears over the radio that a nearby cab driver has had his car stolen. The Marines race to the scene, where they soon discover that Joaquín and his accomplice Orso Ivan Gastélum have stolen another car. But the Marines get a lucky break. The second stolen vehicle has an engine problem, and Joaquín doesn’t get far. And within minutes, Mexican police catch up to Joaquín and Orso, and arrest them both.

Later Joaquín is extradited to the United States and charged with a litany of crimes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and conspiracy to murder. After a three-month trial, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is convicted on all counts, and sentenced to life in prison in a Colorado “supermax” prison, where he remains today following his third and final capture by Mexican and American authorities on January 8th, 2016.

Outro

Next On History Daily. January 9th, 2007. Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone at the MacWorld conference, paving the way for a new era of technology.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Georgia Hampton.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.