El Chapo's former safehouse raffled off in national lottery

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.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.