Notorious drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is currently in Manhattan at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Specifically, Guzman is being held in the most high security wing called 10 South, where inmates are held in permanent solitary confinement and the lights are kept on 23 to 24 hours a day, according to the New York Times. The inmates of 10 South are also prohibited from calling out to each other at all, making for a truly solitary experience.
An interview with a prisoner who had served time in Guantanamo before being transferred to the notorious 10 South unit in New York City described Guantanamo as “more pleasant” and “more relaxed” in comparison to the wing El Chapo is now staying in. The photo above shows his cell in Mexico.
El Chapo has plead not guilty of his charges, and faces a life sentence in the United States if convicted. Other infamous inmates at the facility have included Bernie Madoff (of the $20 billion Ponzi scheme) and Ramzi Ahmed Yousef (orchestrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing).
Only one successful escape has been made from the prison, all the way back in 1990. We’d assume any weak points in security have since been patched up, so El Chapo will have a tough time escaping from this one. Maybe he even misses his Mexico prison and sexually harassing prison guard.
[via NYTimes]