The Latest: Trump tweets Guzman’s escape proves his claims
Jul 12, 2015, 7:36 PM
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Here are the latest developments about Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s escape from prison:
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7:40 p.m.
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has seized on the dramatic prison escape of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to add to his recent criticism of Mexico.
The tweet from his official site @realDonaldTrump on Sunday pointed to the escape as a reminder of problems he was referring to when he said that many Mexican migrants bring drugs and crime to the United States.
Trump’s Twitter message says: “Mexico’s biggest drug lord escapes from jail. Unbelievable corruption and USA is paying the price. I told you so!”
Some Republican leaders who hope to make inroads with Hispanic voters in the U.S. have urged him to tone down his criticism of Mexican immigrants, to no avail.
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1:05 p.m.
Former DEA Administrator Peter Bensinger says he’s shocked at the escape of Joaquin Guzman, saying the man known as “El Chapo” is “the most dangerous cartel leader in the world.”
Bensinger says Guzman “ought to have been housed in an American prison.”
Guzman escaped late Saturday from Mexico’s top-security prison, even though senior officials had earlier said such an escape was impossible.
U.S. authorities didn’t immediately comment Sunday on Guzman’s escape, says Mexican authorities will face tremendous criticism.” He says it should be addressed “at the presidential level.”
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11:45 a.m.
Guatemala’s Interior Ministry says a special task force of police and soldiers is watching the border with Mexico for any sign of fugitive drug lord Joaquin Guzman.
It says the force is working in cooperation with Mexico to hunt for the man known as “El Chapo.”
Guzman escaped late Saturday from Mexico’s top-security prison. He’d been Mexico’s most-wanted man before his arrest last year. He fled to Guatemala at least once before and had an earlier arrest there in 1993.
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11:05 a.m.
An expert on drug cartels says Joaquin Guzman could soon be back in full command and control of his Sinaloa cartel
Michael S. Vigil is a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief of international operations. If Guzman isn’t caught within 48 hours, Vigil says “We may never find him again.”
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10:50 a.m.
A crime-fighting group in Illinois says that Joaquin Guzman’s escape from a Mexican prison means the man known as “El Chapo” will regain his title as Chicago’s Public Enemy No. 1.
The only other time the Chicago Crime Commission applied that label was to gangster Al Capone in 1930. They applied it to Guzman in 2013 to highlight how his Sinaloa cartel dominates Chicago’s narcotics trade.
Guzman escaped late Saturday night from Mexico’s top-security prison.
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8:35 a.m.
A manhunt remains underway for Joaquin Guzman, head of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. The organization has an international reach and is believed to control most of the major crossing points for drugs at the U.S. border with Mexico.
Associated Press journalists near the Altiplano report that the roads are being heavily patrolled by Federal Police, who had also set up checkpoints. Flights were also suspended at Toluca airport near the penitentiary in the State of Mexico.
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8 a.m.
Mexico’s top security official says top drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has escaped through a 1.5-kilometer (1 mile) tunnel that opened into the shower area of his cell.
Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido tells a news conference Sunday that Guzman used an elaborate escape hatch built allegedly without the detection of authorities.
With his escape Guzman has done what Mexican authorities promised would not happen after his re-capture last year — to slip out of a maximum security prison for the second time.
Rubido says 18 employees from various part of the Altiplano prison 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Mexico City have been taken in for questioning.
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