Mob Museum Presents the Detailing El Chapo’s Prison Escape
By Geneva Gámez-Vallejo
Even after his capture, drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman Loera’s prison escape is still a hot topic. So much that the Mob Museum in Las Vegas is exhibiting a step by step display of how El Chapo Guzman was able to mock the authorities a second time. An architectural model shows the tunnels he used and his escape route along with photographs, in addition to the implications of the bizarre interview he had with actor Sean Penn.
The dioramas, based on the authorities’ version of the escape, give a graphic narration of how the Sinaloa Cartel chief escaped and offer a detailed description of how one tunnel was constructed through the Guzman Loera’s shower in the cell and how then he went aboard a motorcycle on rails to go through a tunnel that was nine meters deep.
“El Chapo is a well-known figure in the Mexican drug cartel world, not only in his home country, but in the United States as well. By focusing on his prison escape, we were able to show how powerful he had become in Mexico through violence and corruption. This is just a starting point for our museum in addressing drug trafficking as the biggest part of modern organized crime. We plan to do more in-depth presentations in the future,” said Geoff Schumacher, Director of Content at the Mob Museum when asked why the museum felt it was important to highlight El Chapo in an exhibit.
In regards to how they obtained the resources to recreate the route of escape and the rest of the exhibit, which took them approximately six weeks to complete, Schumacher said that “detailed information about El Chapo’s escape was widely available through government and journalistic resources. We did not need to secure any special partnerships or cooperation to obtain the information we needed to prepare this display.”
Adam Throgmorton and Shawn Bicker are the two masterminds behind the recreation and building of the exhibition’s display. Throgmorton has spent the past two decades crafting three-dimensional scale models of Las Vegas resorts, like the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Paris, and Luxor to name a few. All meticulously detailed from the hotel towers down to the trees, swimming pools and fountains. Usually Throgmorton will have the computer-aided design plans, or digital blueprints, of buildings to work from. But in this case, him and Bicker, who is a master model builder, were put to the challenge of working without the digital or blueprints.
“This does stand out as far as communicating an event that took place historically” said Throgmorton. “We want people to recognize it,” added Bicker.“Our hope is for it to be familiar to them.”
“Most of our museum focuses on the history of traditional organized crime in America from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. But we have one space where we focus on modern organized crime. Of course, the Mexican drug cartels are a major part of organized crime in the 21st century, and this exhibit focuses on the most high-profile aspect of that story,” expressed Schumacher, who also added that the museum is exploring options to create a permanent exhibit dedicated to Mexican drug cartels since they are a key example of modern organized crime and there’s been an extraordinary response to the exhibition.
“Anatomy of an Escape” will be on display for the next five months though the architectural model created for the El Chapo display may continue to be displayed in some other way.
“We are very proud of it, and our guests are fascinated by it. We do not have plans to make it a traveling exhibit.” concluded Schumacher.
The space that is now exhibiting “Anatomy of an Escape” was previously showcasing the FIFA scandal as an example of modern organized crime.
For more information on “Anatomy of an Escape” exhibition, visit www.themobmuseum.org.