MEXICO-GUZMAN/UPDATE Families protest innocence of prison guards as Pena Nieto seeks to "re-right wrong" with Guzman recapture

Record ID: 146802

  • Title: MEXICO-GUZMAN/UPDATE Families protest innocence of prison guards as Pena Nieto seeks to "re-right wrong" with Guzman recapture
  • Date: 17th July 2015
  • Summary: ALMOLOYA DE JUAREZ, STATE OF MEXICO, MEXICO (JULY 17, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HOUSE WHERE TUNNEL "EL CHAPO" GUZMAN USED TO ESCAPE FROM ENDED VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS AND SECURITY OFFICIALS GUARDING AREA RELATIVES OF PRISON GUARDS WHO WERE ARRESTED CARRYING PLACARDS THAT READ "IT'S BEEN 72 HOURS, WE'RE CALLING FOR TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATION" GENERAL VIEW OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF A
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA46ZF0NABN8B7I231FMNI83Q7E
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Nearly one week on since drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's brazen escape from prison, security is high above ground the tunnel route that the fugitive used to regain his freedom in an escape that officials have called an inside job.
    Mexican authorities must have colluded with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to enable the country's top drug lord to escape from a maximum security prison at the weekend, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told media earlier this week.
    The government has reported that some 30 prison officials have been interrogated over Guzman's escape.
    But some family members of prison guards who have been detained for questioning say they have not seen their loved ones for days. Protesting outside the prison in State of Mexico, they told Reuters the guards are innocent.
    "We call on authorities investigating the case and our government to act with full justice and in accordance to human rights because we believe in the innocence of our family members, who have dedicated part of their lives to this prison and we believe in their innocence," said this unidentified protester.
    The heat is on in President Enrique Pena Nieto as authorities pursue investigations to re-capture drug kingpin Guzman, with authorities putting up a 70 million peso reward ($3.8 million dollars) for information leading to the capture of Guzman.
    "We're not going to resolve this issue with anger and wrath. We need to take on the responsibility that this implies, the government of republic has not evaded its responsibility. They took on the task of an extensive surveillance of this criminal and the only way to re-right this wrong is to recapture this criminal and punish all those involved," said President Pena Nieto.
    The government have said they had no information on the suspected whereabouts of Guzman, who headed the powerful Sinaloa cartel before his capture in February 2014 in the northwestern city of Mazatlan.
    President Enrique Pena Nieto has been criticised for not returning home from a Paris trip immediately after news of the druglord's escape.
    Speaking in the Mexican capital, Pena Nieto addressed his critics and said the government was dedicated to the task of recapturing the kingpin.
    Mexico has confirmed its government has accepted the help of the United States to recapture Guzman.
    The cartel has smuggled billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States and has been blamed for thousands of deaths.
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