Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman can’t be tied down – he’s wealthy, clever, and not above breaking the law to get what he wants.

1. El Chapo Guzman Escape
2. Did El Chapo Escape Today

The drug lord put all of those handy qualities to use when he escaped from maximum security prison in Mexico a second time earlier this year. All his great escape took was a little finesse and an estimated $50 million, which is obviously nothing to El Chapo, who first made Forbes’ Billionaire Club almost a decade ago.

As fascination with the most elusive criminal in the world grows, authorities have learned that El Chapo had a lot of help disappearing from Altiplano prison. We’ve also learned more about the mile-long tunnel he took to escape, and the plot’s full cost breakdown.

Not wanting El Chapo to repeat his escape act in Mexico after his 2014 arrest, the U.S. Government asked for the cartel boss to be extradited. Mexican authorities waived off the request.

• For the second time in 15 years Mexico’s most infamous drug lord escaped from a maximum-security prison. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, or the king of drains and tunnels, and his Sinaloa Cartel have been credited with building nearly 100 other tunnels on the US-Mexico border, including one he referred to as an “f’n cool tunnel.”.
• January 8, 2016 2:55 PM EST D rug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been recaptured seven months after he escaped from prison, Mexican authorities announced Friday. But this isn’t the first time.
• Exterior view of a half-built house used by 'El Chapo' to escape from prison near the maximum security prison of Altiplano in Almoloya de Juarez, state of Mexico on July 12, 2015. Attorney General.

From Yahoo Finance:

At the helm of the highly lucrative Sinaloa cartel, Guzmán is estimated to have a fortune exceeding $1 billion, and he reportedly paid $3 million to escape from another maximum-security prison in 2001.

His most recent prison break, through a custom-built, mile-long tunnel equipped with ventilation, lighting, and a motorcycle built on rails, and with an exit disguised by an unfinished home, is estimated to have cost Guzmán $50 million, when bribes to prison employees and government officials are included, said Pablo Escobar’s top hit man, Jhon Jairo Velasquez Vasquez.

El Chapo Guzman Escape

The site notes the exact costs cannot be confirmed, as it was a black market arrangement:

As with all drug-related finances, the true value of Guzmán’s escape has not been quantified or verified.

“Listen, it’s a black market for these things,” Walter Lopez, president of the College of Civil Engineers in Sinaloa, told The New York Times in reference to the cost of the escape. “Getting it exact is impossible,” Lopez said.

Authorities do believe they’ve got the exact costs for certain elements, however, including the construction of the house he escaped to ($24,320 or 400,000 pesos), the land the house was built on ($91,200 or 1.5 million pesos), and the pilot who flew the decoy plane ($10,340 or 170,000 pesos).

You’ve got to admit – El Chapo really thought this through. Read more about his great escape and how it barely put a dent in his wallet here.

Did El Chapo Escape Today

SOURCE: Yahoo Finance PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

How Much Did “El Chapo” Pay For His Elaborate Prison Escape? Here’s The Cost Breakdown… was originally published on globalgrind.com