SAN ANTONIO – The mood in much of Mexico is said to be disbelief following the latest chapter in the saga of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, described as the world’s most-wanted drug lord.
Guzman was captured Friday for a second time at his hideout on the Pacific Coast in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
He now awaits extradition in the same maximum security prison in Mexico City where he used an elaborate tunnel to escape six months ago.
Alonzo Pena, an international security consultant and former deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, “I think there was collaboration, there was intelligence being provided by the U.S. government.”
After two successful break-outs, he thinks it’s a “strong possibility” that Guzman may escape for a third time.
“It’s based on corruption. It’s based, unfortunately, on his ability to have the resources to pay or to threaten people to get what he wants,” Pena said.
Guzman’s attorney has said they will fight his extradition to the U.S., but Pena said the Mexican government is under renewed pressure to extradite the notorious drug trafficker.
“The incentive could be is that they do not want another embarrassment of him escaping another prison,” Pena said.
Pena also said the drug lord’s fate could solidify the legacy of Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto.
“He has had tremendous success in taking down major cartel figures,” the security consultant said, but Guzman’s three escapes haunt his administration.
Pena also said he was troubled by the fact Mexican actress Kate Del Castillo and Academy Award winning actor, filmmaker and political activist Sean Penn, were able to find Guzman three months before his latest arrest.
They spoke to Guzman about his wanting a biopic made of his life. Penn describes their meeting in an exclusive article for Rolling Stone magazine.