Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has spent the last nine years in continuous confinement, first in federal prisons in Mexico and, since 2017, in a maximum-security prison in the United States.
Since his capture on January 8, 2016, forensic reports, court statements, and medical documents have recorded a progressive deterioration in his physical and mental health.
One of the first indications was documented months before his extradition to the US, in a forensic report conducted at the Ciudad Juárez prison, which La Silla Rota has now fully released.
The medical record, signed by forensic expert Julio César Ayuzo González and based on the Istanbul Protocol, was prepared on September 2, 2016, following a clinical evaluation conducted at the Federal Social Reintegration Center No. 9 in Ciudad Juárez.
At the time, Guzmán Loera was 59 years old, had been in prison for eight months, and was already accumulating symptoms that constituted an alarming clinical picture.
The clinical interview revealed details that contrasted with the image of a drug trafficking leader like the one of the Sinaloa Cartel. According to the document, Guzmán Loera maintained little eye contact with the expert, had difficulty maintaining a consistent posture during the interview, spoke in a low voice and at a slow pace, and displayed a flat emotional tone, inconsistent with his speech. “I’m not feeling well,” he told the expert, with words that the report describes as coherent, although visibly affected by sustained mental stress.
The account Guzmán gave during that evaluation serves as testimony of a prison experience that will stay with him until the end of his days, given the life sentence he is currently serving in the United States.
“Since my arrest in Almoloya, everything has become hell,” he said. “Every four hours they woke me up to put me in front of the camera. They don’t let me sleep. The light is always on in my cell. When I go to the bathroom, there’s always a guard behind me. They haven’t beaten me, but I prefer that to not letting me sleep.”
The conditions described, which included round-the-clock surveillance and absolute control of my every movement, were in line with the reinforced protocols the Mexican prison system implemented after his two previous escapes—one in 2001 and another in 2015—both considered shameful by the Mexican state.
Another powerful statement was recorded in the report and reflects the level of physical damage: “I’ve never suffered from constipation, but this started to happen to me […] the pain from the beatings is going away, but this is making me feel worse and worse.”
