A HOUSE from which drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman fled as police moved in to arrest him in 2014 will be raffled off, Mexico’s government said yesterday.

Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most notorious drug trafficking groups, is now serving a life sentence in a US prison.

The home in Culiacan in Sinaloa state is among Guzman assets that will be raffled off by Mexico on September 15.

The government “payback” consists of 248 prizes in assets and cash worth a total US$12.5 million (RM50 million), the national lottery office said.

The house, worth about US$184,000, has a white facade and does not appear luxurious on the outside.

On February 16, 2014, Guzman escaped a manhunt through the house’s underground drainage system, though six days later he was captured in the city of Mazatlan, also in Sinaloa.

Guzman was sent to a top security prison in 2015, but he also escaped from there. 

The elusive drug lord was finally arrested in 2016 and extradited the following year to the United States.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tried earlier to auction off the assets, promising to use the money for education and other priorities, but that plan did not pan out.

In addition to the Guzman house, the raffle will also include a mansion in Pedregal, south of Mexico City, that belonged to former Juarez cartel leader Amado Carrillo. It is said to be worth about US$3.8 million.

Guzman ran an operation that delivered hundreds of tonnes of narcotics into the United States and was behind multiple murders of those who crossed him, according to court filings.

Guzman was extradited to the United States in 2017 to stand trial, and was convicted and sentenced to life in prison two years later. – AFP, July 6, 2021.