What kind of life awaits drug lord El Chapo in the harshest prison in the USA
Mexico has extradited the world's most famous drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States. After sentencing, he can only end up in the maximum security prison — the US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado.
This institution is rightly considered the harshest prison in America, and it is here that many of the most dangerous criminals in the United States are located. Currently, about 430 male prisoners are serving their sentences in the prison, also known as ADX or "Alcatraz of the Rocky Mountains", each of whom is assigned one of six security levels.
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The prison contains many motion sensors and cameras, 1400 steel doors with opening control and a 3.7 m high Bruno spiral fence. The space between the wire and the prison walls is controlled by laser beams and pressure sensors and guarded by fighting dogs.
A typical camera in the General Population Unit. ADX security is so confident in the safety of its facility that it allows you to take photos in cameras.
Most of the prisoners are held at least 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in 2.1×3.7 m cells equipped with steel doors and bars. The remaining time at their disposal (one hour) they spend their time alone in separate rooms where you can exercise or just take a walk. There is also an opportunity to work out in a concrete room that looks like an empty swimming pool.
Another camera angle.
Prisoners rarely see each other and communicate directly only with their jailer. Communication with visitors takes place for each prisoner in a separate room through glass. Religious services are held in the chapel.
Behind the doors to the cell there are another ones — latticed ones, for the interaction of guards with prisoners.
Most of the chamber furniture is entirely made of cast concrete, including a table, a chair and a cot. Each cell has a toilet that is blocked if it becomes clogged, a shower equipped with a timer (to prevent the possibility of flooding) and a sink without a faucet, which is considered potentially dangerous.
This is the high-security sector (Control Unit), one of the most protected areas of the ADX along with the sector of solitary confinement (Solitary Housing Unit). There is a small window in the door.
The rooms can also be equipped with a polished steel mirror bolted to the wall, electric lighting, radio and TV showing entertainment, educational and religious programs. These privileges may be granted in the absence of misconduct.
Prisoners in the high-security sector serve their sentences alone and are not able to contact anyone other than prison staff.
The cells in SHU have a concrete bed next to the toilet and a small window.
Ordinary ADX prisoners are allowed to spend up to 10 hours a week outside the cell, two hours a day, alternating between staying inside and outdoors.
These outdoor cages are for prisoners of the "step-down" program, which allows them to gradually move to less protected areas.
There is only one simulator in the outdoor recreation area in the strict regime sector.
A closed room for prisoners to exercise. Prisoners may be temporarily deprived of such a right for up to 3 months, even for such minor violations as feeding crumbs to birds.
During visits, prisoners use the phone to communicate through a glass panel. At this time, the guards can shackle their ankles.
The windows are designed so that the prisoner cannot determine his location in the prison complex, he sees only the sky and the roof over the window, which further complicates the possibility of escape. Communication via telecommunications with the outside world is prohibited. Food is delivered manually by jailers.