MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto said Sunday he had instructed Mexican authorities to " work to re-apprehend" escaped drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" or " Shorty" Guzman.
In an audio message broadcast over Mexican TV and radio stations, Pena Nieto, who was flying to Franceon a state visit when news of Guzman's escape late Saturday night broke, said "I have given specific instructions" to the national Attorney General 's Office (PGR) "to recapture" Guzman, who escaped from a maximum security federal prison Saturday.
Pena Nieto also said he had instructed authorities to launch "a thorough and exhaustive investigation" into which prison, local or state officials were involved in the escape plan, if any.
Guzman -- who was recaptured in 2014 after his first Hollywood- esque escape from a maximum security facility hidden inside a laundry basket -- is said to have escaped this time through a large tunnel leading from his cell to a construction site located 1,500 meters southwest of the prison.
After news of the prison break broke out, the PGR initially rounded up 18 guards working at the Altiplano prison in central Mexico State for interrogation. By early Sunday afternoon, however, the number of prison officials detained for questioning had reached 30, according to the daily La Jornada.
Four of the top five stories on the front page of La Jornada's online edition were related to the prison break, underlining the scale of the incident and its repercussions for Mexican law enforcement agencies, which appear to be outgunned and outspent by the country's powerful drug cartels.
Pena Nieto's message, reportedly broadcast from Mexico's embassy in Paris, coincided with criticism from Mexico's political opposition groups, both on the left and right.
The founder of the left-leaning Morena party, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, called on the president to return immediately to attend to the emergency, Mexico's prestigious Reforma daily reported.
"I think it's very serious. It's a spectacular escape, it's going to have many repercussions, not just in the country, but around the world. That's why I think it would be wise for Enrique Pena Nieto to return immediately from France to attend to this matter. And also to avoid undergoing the embarrassment abroad," Reforma cited Lopez Obrador as saying.
The country's conservative National Action Party (PAN), meanwhile, issued a statement criticizing the government's anti- crime strategy and noting the escape occurred while "the president and almost his entire cabinet" were out of the country, the daily El Universal reported.
Pena Nieto acknowledged Guzman's escape was an "affront" to the nation, but said he would continue with his planned visit, due to the potential bilateral cooperation and employment opportunities it represents for Mexico.
