Mexican Drug Lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Escapes from Maximum Security Altiplano Prison in Mexico

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has escaped from Altiplano Prison in Mexico. The escape from the maximum security prison by using a 1-mile tunnel connected to the shower area of his cell. According to the LA Times, the tunnel was nearly a mile long and deep enough for him to stand and its opening was a rectangular hole in the former prisoner’s shower, measuring 20 inches by 20 inches. It then descended 30 feet, ran its length under largely unpopulated land and ended in a somewhat isolated house under construction in the nondescript Santa Juanita neighborhood, surrounded by empty fields. The manhunt is now on for El Chapo.

VIDEO – CNN

A massive manhunt was under way today for Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who, the country’s top security official said escaped from a maximum security prison using a 1-mile tunnel connected to the shower area of his cell.

The leader of the Sinaloa cartel escaped from the Altiplano prison, 55 miles west of Mexico City, shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, said Monte Alejandro Rubido, the head of Mexico’s National Security Commission. He had been arrested in February 2014 after more than 10 years on the run.

When guards noticed Guzman could no longer be seen on the prison’s surveillance system, they checked his cell and found an opening in the shower area, Rubido said. The opening led to a tunnel made of PVC pipe that had an adapted motorcycle engine likely used to transport the tools needed to drill the tunnel.

Authorities immediately began searching the surrounding area and flights were suspended at the nearby Toluca airport. Rubido said 18 prison officials were transferred to Mexico City for questioning.

UPDATE I: Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s escape a slap to the face to U.S., Mexican intelligence officials.

The jail break of Joaquin “EL Chapo” Guzman, once considered the most important fugitives in the world after Osama Bin Laden, is a slap to the face to U.S. and Mexican intelligence officials and an embarrassment for President Enrique Peña Nieto. Guzman’s escape was the second in 15 years.