Fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin
"El Chapo" Guzman suffered injuries while trying to escape as
authorities closed in on him, Mexican officials said.
Guzman broke out of prison
through an underground tunnel in July, and has been on the run since then.
In a statement Friday,
officials said intelligence pointed them to focus on northeast Mexico.
Mexican officials said they
launched an operation in the area, prompting the kingpin to make a hurried
escape that left him with injuries on his face and one leg.
Authorities did not provide
specifics on the date and exact location of the operation, or how he got
injured.
"It is important to note
that these injuries were not the result of a direct confrontation," the
statement said.
Mexico's most notorious drug
lord stepped into a shower in July. He slipped through a hole in the shower
stall and into a tunnel that led out of the maximum-security Altiplano Federal
Prison, authorities said then.
The opening connected to a
vertical passageway that was outfitted with a ladder and led to another tunnel
that had tracks for a modified motorcycle.
It's unclear how or where
Guzman went, but authorities have indicated that at some point during his
escape, a pilot flew him farther from the prison.
"El Chapo," whose
nickname means "short" in Spanish, seemed to have vanished into thin
air.
While the notorious drug lord
got a taste of freedom, those suspected of helping him escape were in custody.
A pilot accused of playing a
role in his escape was arrested this month, the nation's attorney general said.
An additional 34 people have
been arrested in connection with the July 11 escape.
Authorities have not said
whether any of the suspects provided them with information to help track
Guzman.
Mexico came under fire
following the prison break for its inability to handle high-profile criminals,
with critics pointing to corruption and the power wielded by drug cartels in
the country.
Guzman's incident was not his
first escape from prison.
He broke out of a
maximum-security prison in 2001 while reportedly hiding in a laundry cart.
Authorities arrested him in February last year -- after 13 years on the lam.
Then he escaped again in July
this year.
The U.S. announced a reward of
up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest. Mexico has offered $3.8
million.
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