"El Chapo" has escaped from two prisons in Mexico, but no one has escaped the ADX

There is a superprison in Florence, Colorado, two hours from Denver. It is the most secure penitentiary in the United States. Since its opening in 1994, no prisoner has escaped from the maximum administrative facility, known as "ADX", one of the reasons why the authorities are expecting drug traffickers from the Sinaloa cartel. , Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, will spend the rest of his life there.

"For him to escape, he should have a guard in his pocket," said a retired federal correctional officer, who spoke with the Washington Post under the guise of anonymity. "It's a very controlled environment, nobody goes without permission, there are not two prisoners who settle at the same time."

The retired officer badigned to ADX described the entire penitentiary as a singular special housing unit. The special housing unit (or "l & # 39; USD") is an isolation scheme. ADX prison officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Guzmán would have as partners, in ADX, 400 inmates and a list of infamous convicted criminals: Ted Kaczynski, Unabomber; Terry Nichols, the bomber of Oklahoma City; Robert Hanssen, the agent of double traitors; and Zacarias Moussaoui, Al-Qaeda agent and 9/11 conspirator.

Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice, described the penitentiary as a safe housing for "the world's most dangerous and notorious criminals".

For many ADX visitors, The most memorable part of the penitentiary is the ominous silence that surrounds the corridors.

"I do not think I saw another inmate while he was there" Former Federal Attorney Allan Keizer during his visit to his client, Sal Maglutta, who was convicted of leading a mbad drug trafficking organization in South Florida and sentenced to 200 years. "It was immaculately spartan: the floors shone, the walls were clean, the corridors were empty. There was no one around, there were no sounds"

ADX inmates are locked up small boxes the size of a bathroom 23 hours a dayaccording to Deborah Golden, a lawyer at the Center for Human Rights, who has visited the ADX several times. Each austere cell is adorned with a bed (a concrete slab covered with a thin foam mattress) and a "Combined toilet, sink and drinking water" 3 in 1, and some inmates may be lucky with a single slot in the door that shows a luster from the hallway.

There are two types of prisoners who perform duties in the ADX, explained Golden: The vast majority of detainees have been transferred to the ADX for disciplinary or administrative reasons. Fewer were sent directly based on their belief or background.

Golden said that Guzmán (escaped from two maximum security Mexican prisons, in 2001 with the help of prison guards and in 2015 through a tunnel in the shower in his cell) would be a "direct engagement".

According to Golden, the super-maximum administrative program It offers a completely different and more isolated approach. With 400 inmates, the ADX also has the proportion Highest prisoner to the guards, which allows for greater and personalized attention of the detainees.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the country was increasingly concerned about the violent crimes. The "apex predator"Stereotypes were very important in the minds of the public: criminals without conscience who lacked empathy and were so reckless that they murdered, stole and raped impulsively. It was developed under the administration of President Bill Clinton It has come and gone, however, many of its policies and programs, including maximum security administrative prisons, still apply.

At a press conference in 2017, US District Attorney East New York Robert Capers said the US government badured Mexico that he would not ask for the death penalty if Guzmán was extradited, standard procedure for extraditions from the United States and Mexico, according to police authorities.

After being convicted on Tuesday for running a drug company, Guzmán sentenced to multiple life sentences; He will be sentenced in federal court on June 25.

"I hope that the Prisons Office is concerned about access to communications" El Chapo. "Their phone calls, their access to emails and letters will likely be monitored more closely possession of drugs by the federal governmentGolden said, adding that the office should take into account other factors, such as medical needs, security and communication needs, the availability of housing and space.

When you enter most prisons, even those of high security, they are occupied. People market. But not in the ADX.

"Segregation is intense, it's a punitive environment as hard as anywhere in the world," Levin said. "It will not be a coincidence if" El Chapo "is sent there."