Just for the sheer hell of it, let’s briefly recap selected highlights from Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán’s eventful 2015: In July of this year, he once again managed to make a seemingly impossibleprison break with the assistance of an elaborate escape tunnel, timely air travel, and a miniature motorcycle. Details surrounding the escape slowly but surely started to assembled themselves into a compelling portrait of ridiculousness, including the fact that the guards tasked with watching over El Chapo’s cell were actually ignoring loud hammering noises while playing solitaire. Shortly after his escape, El Chapo was reportedly spotted in various locations before apparently being injured in an automobile accident, only to later escape from the hospital.
This saga, which also includes a fair share of Donald Trump, now seems to be drawing to a close. Mexico’s government confirmed on Wednesday that they had successfully apprehended six people "believed to be responsible" for El Chapo’s prison break, according to the Associated Press. "Today we are able to affirm that the group responsible for planning, organizing, and carrying out the escape from outside the prison has been broken up," Attorney General Arely Gomez said in a statement. Among those arrested are the "alleged mastermind" behind the escape and El Chapo’s brother-in-law, suspected of assisting in the construction of that aforementioned escape tunnel and organizing transportation.
Though Gomez did not name any of the suspects, she did confirm that they "planned, organized and carried out the jailbreak in cahoots with officials inside the maximum-security lockup." As many as 23 prison officials have also been arrested, with some facing criminal charges. As the search for El Chapo continues, authorities have now started centering their plans on the notorious Golden Triangle region.
