The world's most infamous but powerful drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman tried to escape prison once again, or at least that is what the Mexican government feared according to a Mexican news outlet that suggested this as the reason why he was recently transferred to a jail in the northern state of Chihuahua across from El Paso, Texas.
Officially, the Mexican government explained that his relocation from the maximum security jail in Toluca, some 30 miles north of Mexico City, attributed its sudden relocation of the Sinaloa Cartel leader to a prison in northern Mexico to renovations going on at Altiplano prison, from which he escaped through a one-mile tunnel June 2014 and where he has been in jail again since his recapture about five months ago Jan. 8.
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Mexican news outlet El Universal cited government sources as saying that they feared that El Chapo attempted to escape for a third time — the first time was in 2001 — on May 2, when a power outage occurred in the area of the prison where his cell was located.
Due to the incident, authorities cancelled his lawyer's visit scheduled on that same day and his wife's visit the following day, the Mexican daily added.
The power outage affected the audio and visual recording of the area where Guzman was held, prompting officials to believe it was a jailbreak attempt and to immediately transfer him to a jail in Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua.
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This move led many to believe the government was readying Guzman for extradition to the United States, which in any case may not happen as soon as the government has been claiming because a Mexican federal judge Wednesday approved a court injunction against El Chapo being sent to the United States for the time being, according to La Jornada.
"The emergency plant came on almost immediately," El Universal wrote, "and everything returned to normal."
Security guards immediately scrambled to verify El Chapo's location within the jail and found him in his cell.
“But the possibility that the blackout was related to an escape plot was enough to cause fear among Mexican officials and prompting them to move Guzman to a different jail, something they had planned to do while he awaited possible extradition but never settled on when,” the source told El Universal.
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El Chapo's transfer was approved May 6 by President Enrique Peña Nieto and Interior Minister Miguel Osorio, El Universal highlighted.
The Business Insider news outlet quoted security analyst and editor Alejandro Hope saying it's not surprising that Mexican officials panicked because they are hugely paranoid that he will escape again.
"Even if, as is likely, El Chapo had nothing to do with [the power outage], that might have been enough for the government to order his transfer to another prison," Hope said. "Better safe than sorry."