Escapee drug czar takes on Trump

Though on the run, with a hefty reward announced for his capture, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a notorious Mexican drug lord who escaped from prison on Saturday has purportedly threatened, U.S presidential hopeful, Donald Trump.
At least 34 people have been questioned and Mexican prison officials fired as searchers hunt for Guzman.
An aide to Trump said on Monday the FBI is investigating threatening tweets to the U.S. Republican presidential candidate purported to have originated from Guzman.
A Twitter account made out in the kingpin’s name, Joaquin Guzman Loera, that on Sunday had celebrated his escape sent a message threatening Trump if he continued to speak out.
“Keep screwing (with us) and I’m going to make you eat your f***ng words you lousy white faggot,” said the Twitter account with the user name @ElChap0Guzman.
A Trump aide said in a statement: “The FBI is fully aware of the situation and is actively investigating this threat against Mr. Trump.”
It quoted Trump as saying: “I’m fighting for much more than myself. I’m fighting for the future of our country which is being overrun by criminals. You can’t be intimidated. This is too important.”
In his statement on Sunday, Trump said: “Corrupt Mexican officials obviously let him go a second time. The last time he was free for 13 years. He has been selling drugs in the U.S. big time – a major kingpin.
It’s believed that the Sinaloa cartel leader stepped into a shower at the maximum security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, crawled through a hole and vanished through a mile-long tunnel apparently built just for him.
On Tuesday — despite a $3.8 million reward — there remains no sign of Guzman.
“The first 72 hours (after the escape) are extraordinarily important here,” said Mike Braun, a former chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration who spent years tracking and gathering evidence on Guzman.
“And if they don’t get their hands on him then, I don’t know, we may never see this guy again.”
Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said Monday it was likely prison workers helped Guzman break out.
Guzman, he said, was inside a cell with 24-hour closed-circuit video surveillance and a bracelet that monitored his every move. The video system, he said, had two blind spots that Guzman exploited. And he left the bracelet behind before he crawled into the tunnel and made his getaway.
Nicknamed “Shorty” for his height, Guzman already had pulled off one elaborate escape from a maximum-security prison. In 2001, he managed to break free while reportedly hiding in a laundry cart. It took authorities 13 years to catch him — he was sleeping at a Mexican beach resort.
That he managed another prison break has U.S. officials fuming. When he was arrested in Mexico last year, the United States asked to have him extradited, in part because of concerns of an escape.

Read also: Fleeing drug baron runs down policeman

Guzman took a sophisticated route during his escape, officials believe: a tunnel complete with lighting, ventilation and even a modified motorcycle on tracks “that was likely used to remove dirt during the excavation and transport the tools for the dig,” Mexican National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido said.
Guzman has been a nightmare for both sides of the border. He reigns over a multibillion-dollar global drug empire that supplied much of the marijuana, cocaine and heroin sold on the streets of the United States.

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