The man considered to be the most powerful drug world in the world today has escaped a maximum security prison for the second time. He made his getaway through a mile-long, air-conditioned tunnel that started from an opening in his cell's shower area.
"The elaborate underground escape route, allegedly built without the detection of authorities, allowed Guzman to do what Mexican officials promised would never happen after his re-capture last year - slip out of one of the country's most secure penitentiaries for the second time," The Huffington Post reported.
Mexico's top officials were shocked at his escape, prompting President Enrique Pena Nieto to declare that Guzman's stunt was "without a doubt an affront to the Mexican state."
"I also have confidence in the institutions of the Mexican state ... that they have the strength and determination to recapture this criminal," he added.
The immediate recapture of the notorious drug lord is crucial as he may be able to regain full control of the Sinaloa Carten within 48 hours, according to retired U.S. DEA chief of international operations Michael S. Vigil.
"We may never find him again," he also pointed out. "All the accolades that Mexico has received in their counterdrug efforts will be erased by this one event."
"Guzman's escape is a huge embarrassment to the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto," the BBC said. "Earlier this year, his administration dismissed concerns that Guzman could escape for a second time, but the government's worst nightmare has unfolded."
"Since Mr Pena Nieto took office in 2012, authorities have detained or killed numerous top drug lords. However, this escape is seen as a mockery of the Mexican prison system and shows the difficulty in keeping one of the country's most powerful criminals behind bars," the news source added.
It is not surprising that the drug lord's escape route would involve an underground tunnel, as he's considered a master of such. In fact, he uses such a mode in conveying illegal drugs across the American border.
The tunnel that "El Chapo" Guzman built for his escape oould be, as LA Times observed, considered a "minor engineering masterpiece" as the tunnel had "ventilation, lighting, oxygen tanks, scaffolding and a motorcycle contraption for removing the tons of dirt being excavated."
"It was nearly a mile long and deep enough for him to stand, authorities said. 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 publication added.
Guzman made his getaway sometime Saturday, but authorities reported the incident only on Sunday. Authorities have since said that the making of the tunnel was made possible by the fact that the shower area was the only place in Guzman's cell that had no security cameras. At least 30 prison guards have been detained for investigation in relation to the escape.
A large-scale manhunt has since been organized as soon as authorities discovered his disappearance late Saturday.
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