US offers full support to Mexico to capture drug lord

In this image released by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is photographed against a wall after his arrest in the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan, Mexico. (AP Photo/PGR)

WASHINGTON  — The United States is pledging assistance to Mexico’s government in bringing escaped drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to justice.

The White House says U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke with her Mexican counterpart on Sunday. That’s the day after Guzman escaped from a maximum-security prison outside Mexico City through a tunnel, setting off a massive manhunt.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the U.S. government is offering its full support to Mexico. He’s says that Guzman has also been charged with serious crimes in the U.S.

Guzman escaped Saturday by slipping down a shaft from his prison cell’s shower area and disappearing into a sophisticated mile-long tunnel. He is considered one of the world’s richest and most powerful drug traffickers. He was recaptured last year after another prison escape.

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