Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s first escape from prison was more elaborate than simply hiding out in a laundry cart — the carefully coordinated getaway included an awaiting helicopter and escort by a fleet of crooked cops, a witness testified Thursday.

Details behind the 2001 jailbreak were revealed in Guzman’s ongoing drug-trafficking trial in Brooklyn federal court.

“Mi compa Chapo is going to get out of jail … he’s going to escape,” Jesus Zambada told jurors his brother and Guzman partner, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, told him.

Guzman, the alleged leader of the Sinaloa cartel, had been holed up in Puente Grande prison since 1993 but paid off jail guards to smuggle him out of the maximum-security lockup in a laundry cart.

One of the corrupt guards, Francisco “El Chito” Camberos Rivera, wheeled Guzman into a laundry truck and drove away — but got cold feet and wanted to report the stunt to authorities, Jesus recalled.

The Zambada brothers arranged ahead of time for a helicopter to pick the kingpin up and whisk him off to a “semi-deserted location,” according to Jesus.

“Seven a.m., the helicopter appeared and Chapo was in it,” he said through a Spanish translator. “El Chapo got out. My brother was very happy and so was Chapo. He introduced me to him. That was the first time we met in person.”

Jesus said his wife begged to come along with them — completely unaware that they were in the midst of helping the allegedly dangerous drug lord escape. The testimony caused Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, to crack up from the gallery in the courtroom.

The four took a two-hour-and-45-minute drive to a safehouse. As they approached a toll booth in Mexico City, Jesus told Guzman to cover up.

“I told him to put a newspaper in front of his face because he was a very wanted man,” he testified.

Police were awaiting the escapee — not to arrest him but give him an escort to safety.

“[Guzman] had the natural reaction. He got worried but I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. These are our people. They are here to protect us. No one is going to touch us from here on out,’” said Jesus.

Guzman wound up at a ranch of a pal called Barbarino, “one of the most feared and famous gunmen El Chapo had” and was eager to return to work as the head of the world’s most prolific narcotics network, Jesus testified.

“I’m going to start organizing my people. Let’s do this,” Guzman told him.

Jesus also testified about Guzman attending a christening for Barbarino’s son, where “the priest was surprised. He looked a little nervous.”

“Chapo was going out on the news all the time and my brother also,” Jesus added.

Guzman spent another 13 years on the lam before being recaptured — and breaking out of prison in Mexico a second time through a tunnel dug underneath his cell.

The now 61-year-old now faces life in prison on a slew of charges related to pumping tons of drugs into the US following his final arrest in 2016.