Drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has escaped from a Mexican prison, local authorities confirmed early Sunday.

 

Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, disappeared from the maximum-security Altiplano prison outside of Mexico City Saturday night, according to the National Security Commission.

 

The drug lord was last seen in the security camera at 20: 52 local time Saturday when he was walking into the shower area of the prison. He wasn't seen for a while, since the inside of that area is out of the range of the security camera. But when the wardens checked the area and his cell, both were empty.

 

A search operation was immediately launched in the area around the prison. Highways connecting the capital to other states have been closed and flights at Toluca airport near the prison have also been suspended, according to the commission.

 

It was Guzman's second prison break in 14 years. He broke out of a prison in the Jalisco state in 2001 and ran for more than a decade.

 

When he was recaptured in 2014, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had said such prison breach would not happen again.

 

Guzman had been on Forbes's list of the world's most powerful people, dubbed as the CEO of the Sinaloa cartel and the world's most powerful drug trafficker.

 

The cartel is responsible for an estimated one fourth of all illegal drugs that enter the United States via Mexico. The cartel's annual revenues may exceed 3 billion U.S. dollars base on some estimation.

 

The government said more details about the incident would be disclosed later Sunday.

(Xinhua)