MEXICO CITY — Four officials have been charged for their suspected roles in the jailbreak of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the federal courts system said Monday, bringing the total number of officials charged in his escape to seven.
Guzman broke out of a maximum-security prison in central Mexico in July, escaping in a tunnel built right into his cell at the Altiplano prison. The incident was a humiliating blow to President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Two members of Mexico's intelligence agency, CISEN, and two guards from Guzman's prison have been charged with helping a prisoner escape, the federal courts board said in a statement.
According to the charges, the four officials didn't activate mechanisms to alert others of Guzman's escape, even though all the technological systems needed to do so were working normally.
Three other officials were previously charged in Guzman's escape. Last month, the acting head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said he thought Guzman was still in Mexico, adding that he was "not terribly surprised" to find out that Guzman had broken out of prison.
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Guzman also escaped from prison in 2001 and was recaptured last year.