Claire Reid
Drug lord El Chapo has complained about his life inside a maximum prison in American, saying he is treated ‘cruelly’ and is allowed no contact with other inmates.
El Chapo, who’s real name is Joaquin Guzman, was extradited from his native Mexico to the US in 2017.
The notorious criminal, who has managed to escape from two high-security prisons in Mexico, is currently serving 30 years for charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering at Administrative Maximum U.S. Penitentiary - or ADX - in Colorado, US.
But it seems the convict is less than impressed with his digs in the US, and has penned a seven-page letter to complain about the ‘unfair’ treatment he is shown.
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In a seven-page letter - written in English - El Chapo, now aged 65, wrote: "Due to the treatment at ADMAX, now I suffer from headaches, memory loss, muscle cramps, stress and depression."
He added: "The treatment I receive is cruel and unfair, and it is causing me to suffer from psychological and health problems. I pray that this court intervenes."
The court the drug lord refers to is the appeal court, in which he lodged an appeal against his conviction. In January this year, the court upheld his sentence.
In the letter, Guzman described how he spends most of the day in a cell measuring seven by 12 feet with only a small window through which he is served his meals.
He wrote: "I am ruled out of having any verbal contact or communication with other prisoners.
"I have no human contact, other than when the guards put on and take off my shackles."
He went on: "Since my arrival in the United States, I have not been allowed to speak to my wife."
El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel is currently serving a three-year sentence at a jail in Texas after pleading guilty to three counts of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, conspiring to launder money and of engaging in financial dealings with the Sinaloa drug cartel in June last year.
El Chapo has complained that the solitary confinement he is kept in is taking its toll.
"I have suffered a lot being in solitary confinement,” he wrote. “My blood pressure has risen, leading to headaches and anxiety. Sometimes I forget things."
He added: "They serve me little food and I often stay hungry."
The letter went on: "Even though I don't share a cell and am in my cell 24 hours a day, prison officials enter my cell several times a week to do routine searches, when they move and touch all my belongings."
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