Drug lord El Chapo undergoing 'strange and worrying changes' in solitary confinement

Notorious drug kingpin El Chapo is undergoing "strange and worrying changes" during his solitary confinement stay at a maximum-security prison in the US, his former lawyer has said.

Mariel Colón, an attorney who previously represented the former leader of the brutal Sinaloa Cartel, said his mental state is suffering due to his confinement at ADX Florence, in Colorado, US. El Chapo, real name is Joaquín Guzmán, was arrested for a final time in Mexicoin 2016 before being extradited to the US.

Ms Colón said in a recent interview that prison confinement conditions imposed on El Chapo are becoming increasingly severe, adding she noticed changes that are "a little worrying" in the 68-year-old.

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She said: "I have known him for nine years... I used to see him every day and since he left for Colorado I go see him twice a month and I talk to him weekly on the phone. I can tell you that I've noticed changes that are a little strange and well, they're a little worrying." She claimed the issues were due to lack of human contact and deprivation of external stimuli.

Ms Colón continued: “The American government has him in inhumane confinement conditions, not letting him out of his cell. He spends 24 hours a day, 7 days a week completely alone, isolated, without even the privilege of seeing the sunlight.

"So it just doesn't make sense, really." The lawyer went on to claim that arrangements for El Chapo mean he cannot visit the prison's library, work, or socialise with other inmates, and that he receives food through a small door.

She said: "He can't go to the prison library. He can't work, he can't socialise with other inmates, he can't socialise with the guards.

"In other words, they give him food through a small door. There (in his cell) he eats, there he bathes, he doesn't leave those four walls." The only human contact, she claimed, comes when he is handcuffed by guards to visit with his lawyer.

US authorities are said to be keeping the seasoned criminal under strict lock and key due to his previous escapes from detainment, with previous reports from El Pais stating he spends only three hours a week outside his cell. His calls, letters and visits are also tightly controlled.

El Chapo has petitioned the court to relax these restrictions multiple times since he was convicted for running a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to launder money, and multiple drug trafficking charges.

The Mirror has reached out to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for comment.