Mexican authorities join investigation to determine if “El Chapo” is in Costa Rica

(Handout)

September 9^th, 2015 (ICR News) Mexican authorities have joined an investigation to determine whether the world’s most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán and his son Jesús may be, or may have been, in Costa Rica, the AFP news agency reported on Wednesday.

El Chapo’s son, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, 29, who is also wanted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), tweeted a photo to the social networking site, Twitter last Monday that may have inadvertently revealed his presence in Costa Rica.  The social networking app, when used from a smartphone, pins a user’s location to each tweet, unless the feature is turned off.  ICR News was one of the first media outlets to report the tweet, which subsequently gained international headlines.

After the tweet went viral, many facial recognition experts later identified one of the two figures in the photo, seen in the left of the photo but who would have been seated to the right of Jesús, as “El Chapo” himself, though the man’s face was partially covered by computer graphics.

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) told reporters last week that they are investigating the situation, though downplayed the possibility that “El Chapo” is in the country on Wednesday.

An alternative hypothesis is that the tweet may have been posted from the small village of Costa Rica, Culiacon, which is in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico.

Likewise, security experts said it is not difficult to “spoof” the geo-location of a tweet, making one appear anywhere they wish in the world.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán made an audacious escape from Mexico’s highest security prison in July.