MEXICO CITY—The capture of drug lord Joaquin Guzmán was the crowning achievement of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s government in its war against drug cartels, a beacon of success amid domestic woes. That makes the bold escape by “El Chapo” from a maximum security prison all the more devastating.
A widespread manhunt that included highway checkpoints, stepped up border security and closure of an international airport failed to turn up any trace of Guzman by Monday, more than 24 hours after he got away.
Widely considered the world’s richest and most powerful drug trafficker before his capture last year, Guzman slipped down a shaft from his prison cell’s shower area late Saturday and disappeared into a sophisticated mile-long (1.5 kilometer-long) tunnel with ventilation, lighting and a motorcycle apparently used to move dirt.
