Avian Accomplice Meets Its Demise During El Chapo Jailbreak

Last Saturday, when drug cartel chief Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo” (or “Shorty”), engineered one of history’s most audacious prison breaks, he probably had the help of some well-placed prison and government workers. But officials now say that he apparently also pulled a less-willing accomplice into his escape plan: a sparrow that had built a nest in the window of his cell.

Thanks to recently released surveillance video from the central Mexico prison where Guzmán, the head of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, had been held since his February 2014 capture, we know how he managed to escape: The video shows him casually strolling over to the shower in his cell and ducking down through a small, secret hole. From there, he entered a mile-long tunnel, complete with lighting, ventilation, and a makeshift motorcycle on rails, which led him to a construction site well outside the perimeter of the maximum-security Altiplano prison.

But the video leaves out one piece of the puzzle.  As Azam Ahmed and Paulina Villegas write in the New York Times:

“Government officials visiting Mr. Guzmán’s cell after his breakout discovered the body of a small bird sitting in his trash can. The bird, they believe, was used to test the air quality of the tunnel through which Mr. Guzmán vanished—like coal miners who used canaries—according to an official helping to coordinate the manhunt. Officials are calling the bird 'Chapito.’ ”

Despite its prophetic role in the escape, the bird was not granted safe passage through the tunnel. Hopefully, Guzmán’s flight is cut short before there are any more casualties.