Mexico’s Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong has been holding a meeting with state governors on how to prevent an increase in violence following the escape of the country’s most wanted drug lord.
A manhunt is underway across Mexico to try to recapture Joaquin Guzman, the leader of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
There are fears his escape could spark a turf war with rival drug cartels.
Guzman fled through a 1.5km-long (one mile) tunnel on Saturday night.
The tunnel linked the shower area of the high security Altiplano jail to a house built over the past year across maize fields near the prison.
At the meeting, the Mexican authorities and 10 state governors are going to “assess the progress on the search and discuss additional measures to capture this runaway delinquent,” says a government statement.
Mr Osorio Chong has been visiting the prison and the nearby area for the first time since Guzman’s escape.
He arrived by helicopter at the Altiplano compound, about 90km (55 miles) west of Mexico City, along with a group of congressmen and National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubrido.
Mr Osorio Chong is in charge of the operation in the absence of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is on a planned visit to France for that country’s Bastille Day celebrations on Tuesday.
He will give a media conference in the next few hours to give an update on the investigations. BBC
