07152015Wed
Last updateMon, 13 Jul 2015 11am
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Drug capo 'El Chapo' escapes prison for a second time

In news that has reverberated around the world, renowned Mexican drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman escaped from a maximum security prison this weekend.

Authorities say Guzman escaped through a mile-long tunnel that appears to have been built specially for him underneath the Altiplano prison in Estado de Mexico.

Guzman apparently squeezed through a small opening in the floor of the shower room in his cell, where a ladder took him down to the tunnel burrowed ten meters beneath the block in which he was housed.

The tunnel was equipped with ventilation and lighting and led to a disused construction site about a mile from the prison.

Mexican officials acknowledge that Guzman had inside help to enable his escape.

This is Guzman's second dramatic escape from prison.  He was recaptured last year after spending 13 years on the lam following his break out from Guadalajara's Puente Grande facility in 2001.  He reportedly paid more than two million dollars in bribes to get out of the prison hidden in a laundry basket.

President Enrique Peña called the escape "an affront to Mexico" but the embarrassment of allowing the man who topped the most wanted list for more than a decade to escape from one of Mexico's most secure prisons will haunt him for the rest of his presidency.

As prison administrators and guards were questioned Sunday and Monday, federal authorities combed the surrounding areas for any sign of Guzman.  But such is his influence that most security experts believe he will quickly go to ground.  

Several U.S. officials had previously voiced concerns that Guzman was always likely to escape given the rampant corruption in Mexican jails. Some said this weekend that extraditing him to the United States following his capture last year would have been a safer option.

Republican candidate Donald Trump took to Twitter to comment on Guzman's escape add fuel to his polemic anti-Mexican declarations of late.  

"Mexico's biggest drug lord escapes from jail. Unbelievable corruption and USA is paying the price. I told you so," Trump said.