Arrests after 10 bodies found near Mexican town hall
January 7, 2022
Mexican authorities have arrested two suspects after a sports utility vehicle filled with 10 dead bodies was left outside the state governor's office in Zacatecas.
Police work at the scene as they remove a vehicle with bodies left outside the Government Palace in ZacatecasImage: Edgar Robledo/REUTERS
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Mexican authorities on Thursday said 10 corpses had been found in a sports utility vehicle outside the governor's office in the central state of Zacatecas.
According to the federal Public Safety Department, a man drove the truck into the plaza, then left the car and walked away down an alley. State officials said the car had been driven suspiciously in the area.
Zacatecas state governor David Monreal said the find had been made early in the morning and that the bodies showed signs of having been beaten.
"They came to leave them here in front of the palace," he said in a video, referring to his offices in a centuries-old building in the state capital, also called Zacatecas.
The Plaza de Armas square was lit up with a Christmas tree and holiday decorations at the time.
El Chapo's former safehouse raffled off in national lottery
As the Mexican government gives away the safehouse which former drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman fled in 2014 in a national lottery, a look back at his extraordinary life.
Image: Adriana Gomez/AP/picture alliance
Jailbreak
The leader of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, nicknamed "El Chapo" ("Shorty") due to his short stature, was first arrested in 1993 in Guatemala. He was extradited to Mexico and sentenced to 20 years in jail for murder and drug trafficking. In January 2001, he escaped from Mexico's Puente Grande maximum-security prison, reportedly in a laundry cart.
Image: AFP
The shower to freedom
"El Chapo" remained at large until 2014. The world's most-wanted drug lord was finally captured in the Mexican city of Mazatlan. But in 2015 he escaped again, through a tunnel dug in the shower room of the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez. Security camera footage showed the moment he went into the shower cubicle before disappearing.
Image: YURI CORTEZ AFP via Getty Images
An elaborate plan
The drug boss's escape took him along a 1.5-kilometer-long (nearly 1-mile-long) tunnel dug beneath the shower cubicle. At the end of it was a motorcycle rigged on a special rail system with two metal carts in front of it. The Sinaloa cartel had already perfected the art of underground construction work. Such passageways take months to build and cost millions.
Image: YURI CORTEZ AFP via Getty Images
Exit strategy
"El Chapo" escaped through this trapdoor. The exit was concealed in a half-built house. But his freedom was shortlived. The narcissistic cartel boss appeared to have fallen victim to his own legend.
Image: YURI CORTEZ AFP via Getty Images
Arrested again
The Mexican drug boss was recaptured just six months later after a shootout between his bodyguards and marines in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state. He may have contributed to his downfall by giving an interview to Hollywood actor Sean Penn. The Mexican foreign ministry agreed to extradite him to the United States in May 2016.
Image: Jose Mendez/dpa/picture alliance
Maximum security
Guzman was transported to court in the United States under maximum security. In February 2019, he was found guilty on all charges, including murder, drug trafficking and participating in a money laundering conspiracy. US judges sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 30 years.
Image: TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP via Getty Images
Bizarre 'El Chapo' cult
Over the years, a cult has built up around the famously slippery drug lord. There is a musical subgenre that celebrates Mexican cartel bosses, and Guzman has dozens of "narcocorridos," or drug ballads, dedicated to him. You can also buy "El Chapo" T-shirts and caps, as well as other merchandise.
Image: ULISES RUIZ AFP via Getty Images
Code 701
In 2009, Forbes ranked "El Chapo" as the 701st richest person in the world, estimating his net worth to be more than $1 billion (€850 million). Many fan articles linked to the drug lord therefore bear the number 701.
Image: ULISES RUIZ AFP via Getty Images
Tasteless branding
You can buy Tequila bottles or even COVID-19 face masks with "El Chapo" branding. Few seem concerned by the fact that Joaquin Guzmán was responsible for a bloody drug war, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives since 2006. One brand line is registered by Guzman's daughter.
Image: ULISES RUIZ AFP via Getty Images
Raffle to win safe house
A safe house that once belonged to "El Chapo" is being raffled off in a state-run lottery. The two-bed home with its beige-tiled kitchen is unremarkable — except for its hydraulic bathtub. That concealed the entrance to a network of escape tunnels.
Image: Fernando Llano/AP/picture alliance
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Promise of end to violence
The governor later tweeted that the alleged perpetrators had been arrested, without identifying them.
He said security had proved a major challenge in Zacatecas and he promised to deal with the violence.
"Bit by bit we will recover our peace. What we received was a cursed inheritance," he said.
According to the federal Public Safety Department, a man drove the truck into the plaza, then left the car and walked away down an alley.
Zacatecas has become one of the most violent regions of the country as rival gangs vie for control. The state registered 1,050 murders in 2021, about 260 more than in 2020.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has struggled to significantly reduce homicides in Mexico. The first 11 months of 2021 saw 31,615 killings recorded — a decline of just 3.6% from the 32,814 in 2020.
