A debilitated and depressed “Chapo” Guzman landed on U.S. soil Thursday night, his lawyers contend.
Six months ago, a mental health expert was called by his defense team to the Cefereso prison in the border city of Ciudad Juárez where he was being held.
The psychiatrist who examined him, Dr. Julio Cesar Ayuzo Gonzales, went as far to say that the infamous drug lord is suffering from a mild form of dementia.
The two-hour evaluation was conducted by on Aug. 24.
“I arrived to the conclusion that Mr. Guzman Loera suffers from a generalized anxiety disorder, a mild neurocognitive disorder (known as dementia) and he started to forget things. In some of the tests he showed flaws, especially when it came to memory issues, was not able to specify dates or where he was or what he had had for breakfast or eaten that day,” Dr. Ayuzo wrote in the report.
Guzman, 59, also revealed he had auditory hallucinations – he would hear the sound of glasses clinking for example, or footsteps outside his cell when nobody was there.
Dr. Ayuzo said that at first Guzman didn’t want to admit to the hallucinations because he worried showing weakness would jeopardize his place in the criminal hierarchy.
In his report, the specialist added that Guzman is taking medication for his anxiety but recommended further examination by mental health specialists.
