Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 Source: International Herald-Tribune (France) Copyright: International Herald Tribune 2001 Contact: 181, Avenue Charles de Gaulle, 92521 Neuilly Cedex, France Fax: (33) 1 41 43 93 38 Website: http://www.iht.com/ Author: Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post Service MEXICO SHAKEN BY JAIL BREAK SCANDAL Drug Lord Who Lived Like King in Prison Reportedly Bought Freedom MEXICO CITY - Pizza and women. Drives in the country whenever the mood strikes. Guards on the payroll. A decent wine list, whites properly chilled in contraband ice. What more could a murderous drug lord ask from his maximum security prison? But apparently that was not enough for Joaquin Guzman, a violent little brick of a man known as "El Chapo," who left it all behind last weekend. The reputed former head of the Sinaloa drug cartel reportedly paid millions in bribes to guards, and maybe the warden, and rode out of the maximum security Puente Grande prison hidden in a laundry truck. In his wake, Mr. Guzman, who had been incarcerated since 1993 on a 20 year sentence for drug trafficking, left a series of nagging and embarrassing questions, mainly this: Is Mexico really so hopelessly corrupt that one of the country's most notorious convicts could live like a king in jail, then just walk away? "All the prison bars and millions of pesos spent on security systems are useless if prisoners leave through the door," said Jorge Tello Peon, the country's chief of public security. "What happened," he added, "is proof of the capacity of corruption, or rather structural corrosion, of national institutions by organized crime, particularly drug traffickers." Mr. Guzman's escape has triggered a national soul-searching about the depth of corruption within law enforcement agencies and the best way to clean it up. President Vicente Fox has renewed his vow to crack down on drug traffickers, promising more extraditions to the United States and tougher prison conditions in Mexico. Mr. Fox has said he wants to end a culture in which drug traffickers can buy their way out of prosecution, and those unlucky enough to go to prison "live like masters." In a speech Wednesday in Mr. Guzman's home state of Sinaloa, Mr. Fox vowed to redouble his efforts to curb drug traffickers and all forms of organized crime. "Today I reaffirm our war without mercy against the pernicious criminal mafias," he said. Mr. Fox pledged a "great reform" against crime "so every family can sleep peacefully, so we all can live without fear of going out into the street, without assaults or humiliation, without the fear of losing everything at the hands of the criminals." Mr. Fox did not offer any specifics of his plan, but said he believed "public insecurity" could only be cured by a two-pronged approach against criminals and against the poverty and despair that can lead to crime. Mr. Guzman's escape came a week after Mr. Fox's government ordered an investigation of corruption at the prison and the Mexican Supreme Court issued a ruling clearing the way for more extraditions to the United States. Mr. Guzman, who is wanted in the United States on drug charges, also fled on the day he was scheduled to have been moved to a higher security area of the prison, located in the city of Guadalajara. Whether the timing was a coincidence, or a decision by Mr. Guzman and his colleagues that things were getting too hot for comfort, is unclear. Interior Minister Santiago Creel, the country's top security official, told reporters he believed "we're seeing some reaction precisely to the progress we've made in the last few weeks." Clearly, however, Mr. Guzman's case, the arrest of the prison warden and the questioning of 33 guards suggest how deep corruption runs. And this week's all-out manhunt to rearrest Mr. Guzman is an attempt by Mr. Fox's government to disabuse the country's worst fears about the government's impotence in the face of rich and powerful drug traffickers. As hundreds of officers searched for Mr. Guzman, human rights officials denounced Mexico's lax prison conditions and the ability of rich inmates to buy whatever they wanted - from illegal drugs to their freedom. They said the problem has existed for years and was ignored by the government. "We know that the structure of public security in this country is sick from top to bottom," said Marti Batres Guadarrama, a member of Congress. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D