How El Chapo Escaped Prison Through a 1.5km Tunnel

In July 2015, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, one of the world’s most notorious cartel bosses, disappeared from one of Mexico’s highest-security prisons. The escape route began beneath the shower inside his cell. Waiting below was an astonishing 1.5-kilometre tunnel equipped with lighting, ventilation, rails — and even a modified motorcycle to travel through it. This wasn’t a last-minute prison break. It required planning, engineering, surveillance and people operating outside the prison walls. By the time guards realised what had happened, El Chapo was gone. In this episode of Crime Unknown, we reconstruct how the tunnel was built, how it reached one specific prison cell, how Guzmán travelled underground, the network that helped him disappear, and the enormous manhunt that followed. Inside the cases you thought you knew. Chapters 00:00 El Chapo Disappears 00:35 Mexico’s Most Wanted 01:05 Inside the Maximum-Security Prison 01:35 The Cell That Changed Everything 02:05 Building the Secret Tunnel 02:45 Planning the Escape 03:20 A Motorcycle Underground 04:00 The Hole Beneath the Shower 04:40 The Escape Route 05:20 The Manhunt Begins 06:00 The Network Behind the Escape 06:40 How the Tunnel Worked 07:20 Closing In on El Chapo 08:00 Recapture and Aftermath #ElChapo #TrueCrime #PrisonEscape #CrimeUnknown #SinaloaCartel #CrimeDocumentary