March 24 (UPI) — Mexican authorities said Friday they found a long escape tunnel beneath a prison in Tamaulipas that likely took many months to dig.
Prison officials in the northern Mexican state said more than two dozen inmates escaped through the underground passageway.. Twelve of the 29 escaped prisoners have been recaptured.
One of the escapees killed a person in a carjacking attempt in the state capital, Ciudad Victoria, where officials say the Zetas drug cartel operates.
According to officials, the tunnel was 15 feet deep and 120 feet long. The opening to the tunnel was hidden in a makeshift hut that prisoners had built.
Authorities are still trying to determine how the inmates escaped and where the rest of them are now.
Prison breaks are not uncommon in Mexico. The notorious cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escaped from lockup facilities multiple times before he was ultimately extradited to the United States.
