Mexico gives home of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to lottery

The house from which former drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán fled in 2014 when Mexican navies they surrounded him It has undergone some changes recently as the Mexican government prepares to donate it to a national lottery.

Surveillance cameras covering every corner of the exterior of the modest house have been removed. AND the hole Under a tub that Guzmán had slipped to reach a network of tunnels was covered with a concrete slab.

The Associated Press gained access to property in a quiet area of ​​Culiacán before he got into the lottery. In recent weeks, the Mexican Institute for Returning Stolen Goods to the People, known by his initials as INDEP, gave it a fresh coat of white paint inside and out and put tiles on the spot in the bathroom where the tub had been and the entry point of the tunnel.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke of the seized property lottery, but he did not mention the history of this particular house. A spacious house in one of the most elegant neighborhoods de Mexico City and a private box at the famous Azteca Stadium attracted more attention.

How is the house

The INDEP website lists it only as “House in Culiacán”. It measures approximately 2,800 square feet and is located, perhaps appropriately, in a neighborhood called Libertad, or “Liberty.” The government values ​​the two-bedroom house at $ 183,000.

The house had been abandoned for years and the Marines did some damage when they searched it, needing repairs.

Guzmán escaped this time through the tunnels, but his freedom only lasted a few days. On February 22, 2014, the Marines descended again, this time in a condo on the coast of Mazatlán.

At that time, Guzmán already had renowned for daring getaways. He had escaped from one of Mexico’s maximum security prisons in 2001, allegedly in a laundry cart.

In July 2015, less than a year and a half after his capture in Mazatlán, Guzmán escaped a tunnel dug to the shower drain from his cell and rode a motorcycle on the rails through a tunnel to escape another maximum security Mexican prison.

The Marines captured him again six months later in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, where he had been locked in another house. commonplace.

Guzmán was extradited to the United States, tried and sentenced to life in prison in July 2019.

INDEP officials, who declined to be identified because they were not allowed to speak, said they were surprised the home was receiving treatment. It is not luxurious. There is no swimming pool, no glitter which characterizes the other medicinal properties of Sinaloa.

People nearby said they didn’t know who was his neighbor.

“We never knew anything, we never knew who lived there, we never saw anyone,” said a neighbor, who quickly cut off the conversation. Many locals are not interested in talking about Guzmán or even saying his name in a place where the Sinaloa cartel it is still powerful.

The house was well situated for its previous uses. There is only a neighbor on one side. In the other there is an underground storm sewer -Culiacán built hundreds of kilometers of it to cope with the torrential rains- which is where the bath tunnel connects to make Guzman’s escape possible. There is a school across the street.

On the morning of February 17, 2014, the neighborhood suddenly filled up with gray Navy trucks. They blocked off traffic. There was no doubt that they were interested in the seemingly indescribable house.

But they did not find Guzmán there. In fact, during his trial in the United States, a witness said that Guzmán was not in any of the five houses registered by the Marines, despite reports to the contrary at the time.

Five days later, the Marines reached Guzmán 200 kilometers south in Mazatlán, where he was staying with his wife Emma Coronel and his twin daughters.

Nobody wants to buy it

INDEP attempted to auction the house last year. The auction started at around $ 130,000. There were no buyers.

Now López Obrador gives it as part of the lottery, with the draw scheduled for Wednesday, the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day. This is the first time that the Mexican National Lottery has offered properties. Profits will go to olympic athletes from Mexico.

“This raffle is very important and I am calling on everyone who can help buy a ticket, or two or three,” López Obrador said at his daily press conference last week.

In downtown Mexico City, lottery ticket vendors said sales were good.

Jorge Lopez said he has been selling 100 to 120 tickets at $ 12 a day since last week. “Right now it is selling very well. He said the value of the 22 prizes, many of which are well above that of House Culiacán, was drawing attention. Some people are asking who the previous owners of the properties were, but not many, he said.

Back in Culiacán, on the other side of town near the city center, Ignacio Mariscal said he supports the lottery. “These houses were of no use to anyone; these people had them, ”said Mariscal. “I can see it perfectly well. It’s to help people in need. “

Associated press

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