Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escaped in a laundry basket from a high-security Mexican prison in 2001 after bribing prison guards. Captured again in 2014, he escaped from prison a second time through a nearly 1-mile ventilated, lit tunnel below his jail cell.
Apprehended for a third time in 2016 after almost six months on the run, Guzman is in prison in Juarez.
And now, the Sinaloa Cartel leader is depressed.
A detailed letter from the kingpin’s psychiatrist said Guzman is suffering from hallucinations, memory loss and is being subjected to “psychological torture” by prison guards.
Guzman said the lights in his cell are kept on 24 hours a day and he is awoken every few hours so he can participate in an inmate roll call. The drug lord said “everything has become hell.”
“They do not let me sleep,” Guzman told his doctor. “I only ask that they treat me like everyone else.”
Guzman faces charges in multiple U.S. states for drug trafficking and murder. In California, he’s wanted on charges of conspiracy to import and possess cocaine for the purpose of distribution. In Texas, he faces additional charges including firearms violations, murder, organized crime, money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
The Sinaloa Cartel is considered to be the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world that moves hundreds of tons of drugs throughout the U.S.
Guzman has appeared multiple times on Forbes magazine’s most powerful people in the world list and is worth an estimated $1 billion as of 2011.
Guzman’s wife filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, alleging that the conditions of his imprisonment could make him “go crazy” or result in his death. She said he is allowed no contact with other prisoners and limited outside visitors.
The government denies that it is mistreating Guzman, who is likely the most-watched prisoner in Mexico. His 2014 escape was a large embarrassment for President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is eager to prevent a repeat of the incident.
Last week a Mexican judge approved a U.S. request to extradite Guzman to strand trial on his charges north of the border. That ruling came just days after the federal judge assigned to the drug lord’s case was murdered while jogging near his home.