Prison a Bit More Intense for El Chapo This Time

He's being moved around from cell to cell
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2016 4:00 AM CST
Prison a Bit More Intense for El Chapo This Time
In this image from Friday released by Mexico's federal government, Guzman stands for his prison mugshot.   (Mexico's federal government via AP)

Drug lord Joaquin Guzman is back in the same prison he escaped from in July, and prison authorities are keenly aware of what the world would think of them if "El Chapo" pulled off a third high-profile prison break. This time, Guzman won't be in the same cell long enough for a mile-long tunnel with a motorbike on rails to be built underneath him: A Mexican government spokesman tells Reuters that Guzman is being moved around the prison at random intervals and has already been in eight different cells since his return.

The government says additional security measures have been introduced to foil escape, including round-the-clock guards at the door and reinforced floors to avoid any more tunneling, the AP reports. There is also improved CCTV coverage, with Guzman no longer allowed a blind spot for privacy. One of the drug kingpin's lawyers thinks the extra security measures are too tough on his client. Guzman is weak and is under "brutal psychological pressure," the lawyer tells Reuters, complaining that he's being held in isolation in a "very cold" part of the Altiplano maximum security prison. (As the Mexican military closed in on him last week, Guzman managed to get away through a secret tunnel behind a mirror.)

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