Mexico – A total of 41 dangerous inmates have escaped from a Mexican prison which is situated in a border town to Texas.

The escape that took place early on Thursday morning between 04:00 – 05:00 saw a total of 41 inmates walk out of cedes prison in the city of Matamoros / Mexico which is a town in the border of Brownsville / Texas.

Officials fear that the escaped convicts will cross the border to the U.S where it could be very difficult to track them down.

Authorities believe drugs cartels are linked with the escape as there were vehicles waiting for the convicts as they left the prison.

Jose Ives Soberon Tijerina, the state public security secretary confirmed in a press conference that a total of 41 inmates and two security guards have disappeared.

The two guards have been identified as Jose Angel Reyes Segovia and Agapito Waye Escalante by the Mexican media.

Tijerina said “We know that firearms weren’t used and the jailbreakers left by the main entrance,”

The majority of the convicts were imprisoned for federal crimes such as organized crime and drug trafficking.

A nation wide hunt has been started to catch the escaped inmates along with the two guards.

Tijerina also confirmed that the prisons director, Jaime Cano Gallardo has been put on temporary leave while the investigation into how the inmates escaped continues.

The entire staff at cedes prison was available this morning to help investigators and answer any questions that might help.

The prison has a total of 100 inmates which were being guarded by staff of the Special State Police backed by the Mexican Navy.

A similar escape had occurred in the northern state of Zacatecas / Mexico in may 2009 where 50 inmates had escaped with the help of prison guards.

The hole incident was captured on closed circuit television recordings in the prison.

The incident shows how powerless Mexican authorities are in a country that is losing the battle to drug crime as an estimated 18,000 deaths have been linked to drug related incidents since 2006.

National Turk – Latin America

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