US drug authorities knew Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and his associates had developed several escape plans starting almost immediately after his arrest last year, according to internal Drug Enforcement Administration documents.
The internal DEA documents obtained by AP reveal that drug agents first got information on escape plans in March 2014, about a month after Guzman was captured in the seaside resort town of Mazatlan, Mexico.
Immediately after Guzman's arrest, which was considered a crowning achievement of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's government in its war against drug cartels, various Guzman family members and drug-world associates were considering "potential operations to free Guzman," the documents show.
The agency notified Mexican authorities about the plots. In the documents, Guzman is identified by Guzman-Loera. DEA agents did not have information about Saturday night's plan, when Guzman escaped through an underground tunnel in his prison cell's shower area, allegedly built without the detection of authorities.
It allowed Guzman to do what Mexican officials promised would never happen after his re-capture last year slip out of one of the country's most secure penitentiaries for the second time.
In March 2014 agents in Los Angeles reported a possible escape operation funded by another drug organization run under the auspices of Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel. That plot involved threatening or bribing prison officials. That July, the same investigation revealed that Guzman's son had sent a team of lawyers and military counter-intelligence personnel to design a break-out plan.
In December of the year, agents in the DEA's Houston Field Division reported that a Mexican army general stated "that a deal was in place to release both Guzman-Loera and imprisoned Los Zetas Cartel leader Miguel Angel 'Z-40' Tevino-Morales."
A widespread manhunt that included highway checkpoints, stepped up border security and closure of an international airport failed to turn up any trace of Guzman by today, more than 24 hours after he got away.
The White House said today US Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke with Mexico's attorney general the day after the escape was discovered. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US government is offering its full support to Mexico. He's pointing out that Guzman has also been charged with serious crimes in the US.
