This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
El Chapo's Daughter Says He Snuck Into California Twice While On The Lam
Mexican drug lord and expert prison escapee Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman supposedly paid California multiple visits while he was on the run. He didn't even let us know he was around, how rude!
In an interview with The Guardian, El Chapo's daughter Rosa Isela Guzmán Ortiz says that he snuck into California late last year after conducting the now-infamous Rolling Stone interview conducted by Sean Penn. According to Guzmán Ortiz, her father was aided by—surprise, suprise—corrupt Mexican officials, and was able to enter the U.S. to visit her and their relatives on two occasions.
Per The Guardian:
Guzmán Ortiz said her father crossed the border in late 2015 to visit relatives and to view her home, a five-bedroom house with a large garden which he bought for her and her four children. She granted the interview on condition its location not be disclosed. "My dad deposited the money in a bank account with a lawyer and a while after he came to see the house, his house. He came twice."
She declined to specify how he criss-crossed the heavily guarded frontier, saying only: "I asked him the same, believe me."
Guzmán Ortiz also said that while El Chapo's most recent escape from prison was all part of a plan: senior Mexican officials knew about it. "My dad’s escape was an agreement," she told the Guardian.
Last July, El Chapo escaped the maximum security prison at Atiplano for a second time using an elaborate escape route that included a mile-long tunnel and a motorcycle-riggled getaway-cart. In January, Chapo was captured, after his attempts to contact producers about making a Narcos-style show tipped off authorities to his location.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
