Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jul 2015
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388

ESCAPED AGAIN

In recent years, Mexican leaders have promised that improved security 
forces and a tougher focus will curb drug cartels that have killed 
thousands and flooded the U.S. with lethal imports. Now the prison 
tunnel escape of a drug lord erases that image.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman made it look comically easy. Allies dug a 
nearly mile-long tunnel equipped with lights, ventilation and a 
motorcycle on rails to free the Sinaloa Cartel head from a maximum 
security lockup. He slipped down a hatch in his shower floor and 
escaped, whisked away by a helicopter waiting at the tunnel's far end.

The planning and subterfuge are one thing. But the larger message is 
that Mexico's latest drug crackdown is a bust, pulled down by 
incompetence and corruption. An ally that Washington needs in 
stemming drugs, gangs and violence is too weak to count on.

The escape is a huge embarrassment for President Enrique Pena Nieto, 
who proudly announced the drug trafficker's arrest last year. It adds 
to the president's image as lofty policymaker unable to carry out 
reforms at the local level, whether it's the disappearance of 
student-teachers or the breakout of a billionaire drug outlaw.

Pride and national sovereignty led Mexican officials to rebuff 
earlier U.S. requests for Guzman's extradition. Trust between law 
enforcement agencies can only worsen at a time when heroin deaths are 
rising in the U.S.

Mexico could experience an explosion of violence if Guzman seeks to 
restart turf wars with other gangs controlling drug routes northward. 
Some 60,000 lost their lives over the past decade in the crossfire.

Pictures allegedly taken of Guzman in the cockpit of an aircraft and 
relaxing with friends have already surfaced since his escape. It's a 
taunting reminder of his elusiveness and power, just like his tunnel 
exit. It's also a message to both Mexico - and the U.S. - of the 
brazenness and power of a ruthless drug kingpin. If he is recaptured, 
Mexico must not resist the chance to extradite him to its northern 
neighbor that has the will and the facilities to keep him locked up.
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