MEXICO-GUZMAN/UPDATE Search and investigation continues for escaped drug lord Guzman

Record ID: 146941

  • Title: MEXICO-GUZMAN/UPDATE Search and investigation continues for escaped drug lord Guzman
  • Date: 16th July 2015
  • Summary: ALMOLOYA DE JUAREZ, MEXICO (JULY 16, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF MEXICAN GENDARMERIA SECURITY FORCE (FEDERAL POLICE FORCE) HANDING OUT FLYERS WITH INFORMATION ABOUT REWARD FOR RE-CAPTURE OF DRUG KINGPIN JOAQUIN "EL CHAPO" GUZMAN WANTED BANNER WITH THREE DIFFERENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF GUZMAN THAT READS: "REWARD SEVENTY MILLION PESOS" VARIOUS GENDARMERIA OFFICIAL INTERVI
  • Embargoed: 31st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Q43LMIJXXIOOWQ6ILIBYO05M
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The heat is on in Mexico as authorities continue to investigate the case of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman who escaped from prison at the weekend.
    Members of the Mexican Gendarmeria security force (Federal Police force) on Thursday (July 16) were busy handing out flyers with information about the 70 million peso reward ($3.8 million dollars) for information leading to the capture of Guzman.
    Security forces were busy searching the area around the Almoloya de Juarez prison and interviewing local residents.
    Local resident, Esteban Estrada, said he felt comfortable with the fact the federal police were patrolling the town.
    "With what just happened I think the patrolling they do is very good, because we are very close to the high security prison," said Estrada.
    Meanwhile, relatives of prison wardens and employees demonstrated outside the prison, waving banners that read: "Justice" and "Our relatives are innocent."
    They calling for information on the fate of their loved ones, whom they say they have not seen since they were taken in for questioning at the weekend.
    "What we are asking for is to be allowed to see our relatives. They are people who worked here. Some presented their statements on Saturday and others on Sunday and we have no news from them. They (authorities) have not allowed access to our closest relatives who are there waiting outside with their lawyer to find out what their situation is," said Almoloya de Juarez resident, Rocio Sanchez.
    U.S. law enforcement officials met with agents of the Mexican attorney general's office this week to share information related to the escape and coordinate efforts to apprehend Guzman, a Mexican government official said this week.
    Mexico has long sought to maintain its independence from the United States on matters of national security, but has taken fire from critics for not having previously extradited Guzman to the United States.
    The neighbouring countries would be "cooperating permanently" to try and catch Guzman again, the Mexican official said, and were discussing everything relevant to the operation.
    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.
    The cartel has smuggled billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States and has been blamed for thousands of deaths.
    The kingpin's escape on Saturday night from a maximum security prison through a tunnel leading into his cell has massively undermined President Enrique Pena Nieto's efforts to crack down on organized crime.
    Mexican security chiefs were aghast and the government said the breakout could only have taken place with the help of prison guards and officials, and fired the prison's director.
    Guzman previously broke out of prison in 2001.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register