Pubdate: Wed, 11 May 2016
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2016 Telegraph Media Group Limited
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Note: from Agence France-Presse

MEXICAN DRUG LORD EL CHAPO WANTS TO RETURN TO OLD PRISON, 'DISGUSTED' 
BY DIRT IN NEW CELL

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is so disgusted by the
dirt in his new prison cell that he has asked for chlorine to clean it
himself, his lawyer said.

Guzman, 59, was abruptly transferred
from his maximum-security prison near Mexico City to a jail in Ciudad
Juarez, at the US border, on Saturday.
His lawyer, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, told AFP that he has since filed
two motions to have Guzman returned to the Altiplano lockup, some 90
kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital.

Refugio Rodriguez said Guzman should remain close to the courts in
Mexico City and nearby Toluca that are reviewing his criminal cases.
Ciudad Juarez is nearly 1,800 kilometers away.

The attorney said he was concerned about the heavy military and police
presence around the Cefereso Number 9 prison in a desert area of
Ciudad Juarez, and said none of the inmates have been allowed to see
lawyers since Saturday.

He said Guzman is isolated and complains that his "cell does not have
the best health conditions. Joaquin has asked that they give him
products to clean it, such as chlorine."

Guzman had already complained about his prison conditions at the
Altiplano, claiming that authorities were waking him up several times
per night.

The Sinaloa drug cartel leader has staged 
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/12090268/Mexico-captures-fugitive-drug-lord-El-Chapo-Guzman-says-president.html)two
spectacular prison breaks in his lifetime.

In 2001, he hid in a laundry cart to sneak out of a maximum-security
lockup in western Mexico. He was detained after a long manhunt in
February 2014.

He escaped from the Altiplano prison in July 2015, when he snuck out
through a 1.5-kilometer (one-mile) tunnel leading to his cell's shower.

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/12126623/El-Chapo-gets-the-film-he-never-wanted.html)Guzman
was recaptured in January and sent back to Altiplano, which is still
considered the highest security prison despite his escape.

Authorities said his transfer to Ciudad Juarez was part of a normal
rotation of prisoners and was also due to a security upgrade at the
Altiplano prison.

Officials deny that placing Guzman close to the US border had anything
to do with extradition requests in the United States.

A Mexican judge endorsed on Friday an extradition bid based on cocaine
charges in California.

The foreign ministry has less than a month to approve the extradition,
which can then be appealed by his lawyers.

Refugio Rodriguez said his client wants to negotiate his extradition
with the United States in order to get better prison conditions.

But a US government official has told AFP that no such deals would be
made.

The official estimated that the extradition would take place by the
end of the year, though Guzman's lawyer vowed to fight it to keep him
in Mexico longer.

Analysts have raised questions about the surprising prison transfer,
noting that the Ciudad Juarez was ranked last among federal prisons by
the National Human Rights Commission in 2015 and that the city is a
bastion of the Sinaloa cartel.

[sidebar]

Who is 'El Chapo'?

Name: Joaquin Guzman Loera
Age: Believed to be around 58
Business: Leader of Mexican drug empire Sinaloa Cartel
- - Ranked among most powerful men in the world by
Forbes magazine every year since 2009
- - Hid in a laundry cart to escape a maximum security prison in 2001
- - Said to have escaped from authorities through the bottom of a bathtub in 2014
- - Fled through a mile-long tunnel dug from his
cell in his second escape from a maximum security prison in 2015
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D