Internal gov’t docs show US drug agents had intel on previous escape plots by Mexican kingpin

WASHINGTON – U.S. government documents show the Drug Enforcement Administration had intelligence about at least two plots to help Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escape from a maximum security prison.

Internal DEA documents obtained by The AP reveal that drug agents first got information on escape plans in March 2014. That was about a month after Guzman was captured in Mazatlan, Mexico.

The documents show that in March 2014 agents in Los Angeles reported a possible escape operation funded by another drug organization that operates under the auspices of Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel and involved threatening or bribing prison officials. That July, the investigation revealed Guzman’s son had sent lawyers and military counter-intelligence personnel to design a break-out plan.

Guzman escaped through a tunnel below the prison late Saturday.