Prison break: New footage released of Mexican drug baron’s escape tunnel (VIDEO)

16 Jul, 2015 08:52 / Updated 9 years ago

Fresh material of the tunnel used by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in his daring escape from jail has emerged. The video shows a close-up section of the tunnel, while the surrounding area is dusty, which is likely to have been caused by drilling.

It also became known that fellow inmates complained about the noise from the use of power tools, just days before the escape, Mexican media sources have reported.

It was disclosed that the prison authorities allowed ‘drilling and waterproofing works’ for a pipeline project on the perimeter of the jail. This created a lot of noise and led to complaints from the prisoners inside the high-security facility, sources told the Mexican newspaper, La Reforma.

READ MORE: Alleged photos of Mexican kingpin Guzman enjoying life after escape leaked

The sources, who work inside the prison, also mentioned that the noise created from this project could have helped to provide the perfect cover for the drug baron Guzman, to drill his own way out of his prison cell, by creating a 1.5 kilometer tunnel, without arising suspicion.

Guards also found a dead bird in Guzman’s trash can, which prison officials believe he used to test the air quality of the tunnel, before he made is escape. Prison officers even gave the bird a name – ‘Chapito.’

Once it was discovered that the drug lord had escaped from his cell, it still took the prison authorities 30 minutes to raise the alarm. There are claims that Guzman, who is also known by his nickname, El Chapo, may have paid $50 million in bribes to help him escape.

At present, 22 out of 31 prison employees are being questioned by police and are currently in custody. They say Guzman’s escape would have been impossible without some kind of outside assistance.

READ MORE: Video shows Mexican drug kingpin escaping maximum security jail

The Altiplano prison is the most secure facility in the country and is in fact equipped with underground sonar, to detect any possible tunneling activities.

Previously, a video had been released showing the exact moment that El Chapo started his escape. Meanwhile on Tuesday, photos were leaked of the drug kingpin allegedly enjoying his freedom.

There is a $60 million bounty set by the Mexican authorities on Guzman’s head.