Mexico drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman escapes prison again

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has escaped from a maximum-security prison outside Mexico City, authorities said on July 12, a second jail break in 14 years that deals an embarrassing blow to the government.

The kingpin was last spotted by security cameras in the shower area of the Altiplano prison, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital, on July 11 night before disappearing, the National Security Commission said.
 
An alarm was issued after "he was not visible" for a while and "the escape of Guzman was confirmed," the commission said in a statement.
 
"An operation to locate him was deployed in the area and on roads of neighboring states," it said, adding that flights were suspended at the nearby Toluca airport.
 
The Altiplano prison houses the country's most notorious drug lords, murderers and kidnappers.    

The security commission did not have more details about the escape, and scheduled a press conference for July 12 morning.
 
Guzman's first break from prison was in 2001, when he slipped past authorities by hiding in a laundry cart.
 
Marines finally recaptured Guzman in February 2014 in a pre-dawn raid in a condo in Mazatlan, a Pacific resort in Sinaloa state.
 
Guzman, 58, whose Sinaloa cartel shipped narcotics across the globe, was considered the world's most wanted drug lord.    

His second escape is sure to embarrass the administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who was flying to France for a state visit when Guzman fled.
 
Pena Nieto's government had won praise for capturing the powerful kingpin, a diminutive but feared man whose nickname means "Shorty."  

After his capture, the government had paraded Guzman in front of...