Drug lord 'El Chapo' reading 'The Purpose Driven Life' in prison
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera, Mexico's top drug lord, does not have television privileges in prison but he reportedly has access to reading materials. The one he is currently reading is the Spanish version of Pastor Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?"
According to a report by the Associated Press on March 19, a federal official and a colleague granted them an interview after Guzman's camp filed complaints about the drug kingpins deteriorating health.
They said that he already read "Don Quixote."
"The Purpose Drive Life" is a best-selling devotional book containing Biblical verses and quotes. It won the ECPA Christian Book Award for Christian Book of the Year (2003). First published in 2002, it has 40 chapters that readers can go through each day for 40 days.
Some of memorable lessons that the book contains include: "Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts," and "If not to God, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, or to your own pride, lusts, or ego. You were designed to worship God and if you fail to worship Him, you will create other things (idols) to give your life to. You are free to choose, what you surrender to but you are not free from the consequence of that choice."
El Chapo is the head of Sinaloa Cartel and, in 2012, was said to have been considered by the U.S. Department of Treasury as the most powerful drug trafficker in the world. His group moves tons of cocaine from Colombia to the U.S. He was captured in 1993, escaped in 2001, arrested again 2014, escaped in 2015, then recaptured in January.
While at the Altipano prison, he is under tighter security, with two guards posted outside his cell. He is said to have gained weight and has trouble sleeping.