Inmate swaps places with twin to escape breakout-proof prison

Escaped prisoner Alexander Delgado Herrera wears a shirt with the words Police Kidnapping Detained after being captured in the Peruvian port city of Callao. Escaped prisoner Alexander Delgado Herrera wears a shirt with the words Police Kidnapping Detained after being captured in the Peruvian port city of Callao. Photo: Peru Ministry Of Interior Photo: Peru Ministry Of Interior Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Inmate swaps places with twin to escape breakout-proof prison 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

A Peruvian convict pulled off a daring escape by trading places with his twin brother and walking out of a high-security prison that was considered to be inescapable.

Alexander Delgado Herrera, 28, was serving a 16-year sentence for child sexual abuse and robbery in the Ancón I facility north of Lima when his identical twin brother, Giancarlo, visited him in his cell on Jan. 10, 2017.

According to the BBC, Delgado Herrera allegedly drugged his twin, stripped him, put on his clothes and then walked out of jail, apparently with guards none the wiser.

After he came to, Giancarlo informed the guards they had the wrong Delgado Herrera behind bars. Fingerprints backed him up.

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But prosecutors weren't sure he was an innocent party in the body swap. They investigated him on suspicion of aiding his brother's escape, but eventually dropped charges against him, according to El Pais.

For 13 months, Alexander Delgado Herrera lived on the lam, sometimes using the alias Vaporito. But his luck ran out Monday in the port city of Callao. He was arrested after the Ministry of the Interior offered a 20,000 Peruvian Sol ($6,127) reward for information leading to his capture.

Delgado Herrera reportedly devised the escape because he wanted to see his mother, who he said was devastated by his imprisonment.

Authorities previously expressed astonishment that anyone had been able to escape from the prison. The Guardian quoted former justice minister Marisol Pérez Tello as saying, "It's unbelievable – in 12 years nobody had escaped from Ancón I."

Delgado Herrera will spend the remainder of his sentence in a different prison, a maximum-security facility.