U.S. Government Officials Accused Of Torture By El Chapo’s Aide
Jesus Raul Beltran-Leon, one of El Chapo’s aides in the Sinaloa Cartel, has through his lawyers accused U.S government officials of widespread torture, with the incidents dating back to 2010. According to court papers filed by Raul, who is currently incarcerated in Chicago, Mexican authorities working in collaboration with American trafficking investigators subjected him to water torture and electrocution.
His wife and daughter were also allegedly threatened with gang rape. The documents outline 16 cases of physical and psychological torture involving captured suspected narco operatives. According to the WLS-TV report, a motion has already been filed asking the American government to submit evidence in regard to his torture while in the custody of Mexican authorities.
El Chapo’s Torture In Mexican Prison
Just last year, drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman complained about the mental torture he had to endure while incarcerated in Mexico. At the time, he complained of inhumane treatment and psychological torture. Lights were apparently left on throughout the night, and the only human contact he had was masked prison guards. He was apparently also woken up every four hours for roll call, which made it hard for him to sleep. He attributed memory loss, hallucinations, and depression to this treatment through his lawyers and psychiatrist.
That said, El Chapo currently is one of the most closely watched prisoners in America, with the precautions taken to insulate him from the outside world bordering on the extreme. In November, he was subjected to a psychological test after his lawyer argued that the confined conditions were taking a toll on him, making it difficult for him to effectively defend himself. He was forgetting names of individuals and places that were key to the hearings, as well as suffering bouts of paranoia and depression.
Probably one of the loneliest drug lords in the world, he is in solitary confinement 24 hours a day and is not allowed physical contact even with his lawyers. Video chat and a dirty Plexiglas window are the only means provided to communicate with them. El Chapo is deemed a security risk because of the magnitude of power and resources he wields in the narco-trafficking world and the inherent ability to manipulate the prison and justice system.
