‘Alcatraz of Rockies’ awaits drugs boss El Chapo
HIS tunnelling out of prison cells and safe houses has given him almost mythical status. So there is little doubt that when drugs boss Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman is sentenced in June, he will be sent to the most secure prison in the United States. Guzman (61) is almost certain to be sent to the Colorado “Supermax” prison, in the desert two hours away from Denver. It is so secure, it “Alcatraz of the is known as Rockies”. The complex is guarded by razor-wire fences, gun towers, heavily armed patrols and attack dogs. The 400 prisoners – including Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the 1993 World Trade Centre attacker Ramzi Yousef – are in concrete cells 23 hours a day. The typical cell is a 7ft-by-12ft concrete box with concrete fittings, and a four-inch window, leaving its occupants unable to see the sky. Prisoners generally get an hour outside a day together in a small caged-in area, but Bob Hood, a former warden in the prison, said Guzman may not even get that. “He’s such a high-profile person that, in my opinion, he’ll never be allowed on the yard with other prisoners for the rest of his life,” he said. One former prisoner described it as a “high-tech version of hell, designed to shut down all sensory perception”. (© Daily Telegraph, London)