In 2014, Mexico’s most brutal drug baron Joaquín “El Chapo” Gúzman (64) fled his shelter in Culiacán (state of Sinaloa) and never came back – the house will soon change hands …
The Mexican state lottery will raffle the inconspicuous, 395 square meter property with the whitewashed walls on September 15th: “El Chapos” escape house (value approx. 155,000 euros) is one of 247 objects of value that the state has from drug cartels has confiscated and is now giving away for a good cause.
Do the tunnels under the house still exist? “El Chapo” (Ger. the small) had them put on specially in order to be able to escape the police in an emergency.
This “emergency” occurred in February 2012: the cartel boss fled through the partially air-conditioned, dimly lit corridors to Mazatzlan, while a special task force searched his hiding place for him.
Photo: AP
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/durch-diesen-tunnel-entkam-der-kartell-boss-im-februar-2014-78510192ebc9476c9fce04baf0d000f2-76995452/Bild/3.bild. jpg “/> The cartel boss escaped through this tunnel in February 2014Photo: AP
A few days later, however, the head of the Sinaloa cartel was caught in Mazatlan and taken to a maximum security prison in 2015 – from which he also escaped.
In 2016, special units of the Mexican police were finally able to arrest him and extradite him to the USA, where he is serving a life sentence for murder and drug trafficking.
Photo: REUTERS
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/el-chapo-bei-seiner-ersten-festnahme-im-februar-2012-drei-jahre-spaeter-entkam-er-wieder- 6361285083514359af524a983a2df5ad-76994682 / image / 3.image.jpg “/> “El Chapo” when he was first arrested in February 2012 and escaped three years laterPhoto: REUTERS
Box in the football stadium and win confiscated money
In addition to several houses in “El Chapo”, participants can also win seized cash, a box in the Aztec stadium or a luxurious property that belonged to Amado Carrillo Fuentes († 40), the late founder of the Juarez cartel.
The entire lottery pot is worth around 10.5 million euros.
In comparison to the estimated fortunes of the cartels, there is very little: According to calculations by the American Congress, “El Chapo” alone is said to have earned three billion dollars a year.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador intends to invest the income from the competition in the education and health system.