Seven prison officials have been arrested for El Chapo’s escape and a long web of prison and government corruption is to blame

The Mexico Attorney General’s office issued arrest warrants Friday for seven prison officials who they presume have played a role in Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán‘s notorious escape from the Altiplano prison. They’ve also fired the head of the prison.

The method of escape is by far one of the most sophisticated civil engineering projects seen and obviously required a formidable team of experts, engineers and dedicated construction workers as well as a few people in high places. Nevertheless, some people believe that members of the government themselves were involved in order for “El Chapo” to facilitate such an extravagant escape for the second time.

Writer, Anabel Hernandez, who has extensively researched the Mexican Cartel and its government for her book Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords and their Godfathers, agrees. As part of her five-year-long research for her book, Hernandez claims that ex-president Vicente Fox started the war between Mexico’s cartels, telling Sam Clements of Vice that,

In January of 2001, something happened that changed the drug cartel game; the federal government helped El Chapo to get out of jail. So in that moment, the federal government started to protect just one cartel and fight against the others, which is when the war between the cartels started. Since El Chapo’s first release, the government has continued to conspire with the Sinaloa cartel.”

-Abesi Manyando (@abesipr)