El Chapo’s infamous 2015 jailbreak “cemented” his “reputation” as a wealthy and powerful drug lord, a Department of Defense analyst testified Monday in revealing the full-blown panic that ensued 37 minutes after he slipped away.
Brooklyn federal court jurors were treated to never-before-seen close-up photos and video of the 4,600-foot-long tunnel that Chapo’s cohorts dug to so he could escape from Altiplano prison.
As part of the Defense Department Joint Task Force North in 2015, James Bradley toured the man-made tube that connected the shower in his Cell Block 20 to an open field.
The Sinaloa drug cartel leader’s henchmen took about eight months to build the nearly mile-long tunnel, about 35 feet underground, complete with a generator to pump air into it, Bradley said.
They disguised the machine by building a barbecue pit over it, he explained.
The shoddy hole Chapo slipped through was in the shower next to his toilet — a splattered, stained hole in the floor. Immediately underneath, his crew built a small chamber — where he appeared to leave behind a sleeve of crackers while making a run for it, photos showed.
A crude ladder helped him descend deeper into the hole.
Jurors were also shown a video of Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman, pacing his cell as the television blares in the background — to cover up the loud hammering in the background.
At one point, he gets up from lying in bed, makes the bed, then stops and appears to use the toilet.
He then hunches over the shower, puts his shoes on — and is never seen again.
It takes prison guards at the maximum-security lockup 37 minutes before someone realizes their high-profile inmate is missing, Bradley said.
Video taken inside a room where security footage is viewed shows the guards flipping out and swearing and shouting, “Get there!” and “Guzman! Guzman! Guzman!”
“There’s a hole in the shower!” one of them points out.
Another one confirms, “Positive, positive — the drain.”
“What size is it?” a guard asks.
“Big,” one of them replies.
There were also shouts of “Don Joaquin! Don Joaquin!”
The guards then rush to Chapo’s cell — as one frantically looks under the bed for him.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” they yell looking into the hole in the shower, before someone realizes, “It’s blocked down there!”
The dramatic escape was the second time Chapo weaseled his way out of a Mexican prison. The first was in 2001, when he hid inside a laundry cart pushed by a crooked employee named Chito.
In a report Bradley wrote about his tour, he concluded that the most recent jailbreak “cemented Chapo’s reputation.”
Meanwhile, after calling dozens of witnesses, prosecutors rested their case on Monday.
In speaking to the court for the very first time during the 11-week trial, Chapo said he won’t be taking the stand.
“The question is, to Mr. Guzman, do you want to testify?” Judge Brian Cogan asked.
“You honor, me and my attorney have spoken about this, and I will reserve,” he replied through a Spanish interpreter.
“Reserve?” Cogan asked.
“Yes, I will not testify,” he clarified.
The defense plans to call two witnesses on Tuesday — both US government agents who debriefed cooperating witness Jorge Cifuentes.
The jury could get the case as early as Friday.
Cogan also denied a defense motion for acquittal.