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MEXICO CITY, July 16 (UPI) -- Mexico has deployed nearly 10,000 police officers and 48 search dogs in the manhunt for drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, head of the Sinaloa Cartel. More than 100 checkpoints have been established across Mexico and 100,000 leaflets with mugshots of Guzmán have been distributed at toll booths, according to Mexico's Ministry of Interior.
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Airports have been put under alert, where personnel have been asked to search all private flights for Guzmán. Police are also searching hospitals and hotels.
Mexican officials are cooperating with Guatemala and the United States to increase border security.
The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration U.S. agencies are also cooperating with Mexican officials. The DEA supplied intelligence that led the the re-capture of Guzmán in 2014 after a 13-year escape following his first escape from prison.
"The cartel headed by Chapo is probably the most well-financed, vicious, criminal entity we have ever seen, with unlimited resources both to bribe, corrupt and to transport," Deputy DEA Administrator Jack Riley said. "So our job in this particular case, as much as it was over year ago when we captured him, is to use every legal tool we can, cooperate with our counterparts, and hit the ground. The hunt is back on."
The Mexican government is offering nearly $3.8 million as a reward for information that leads up to the capture of Guzmán. He escaped from a Mexican maximum-security prison for the second time Saturday night by using a mile-long tunnel, which authorities said could have taken a year to build.
Chicago Crime Commission once again declared Guzmán as "Public Enemy Number One," a title also used for notorious mobster Al Capone.
Guzmán was last seen at the Altiplano Federal Prison in the town of Almoloya de Juarez of the State of Mexico at 8:52 p.m.
The entrance of the tunnel measured about 20-by-20 inches and the tunnel itself was about 5 feet deep. Other sections of the tunnel delve much deeper. PVC piping, likely used for ventilation and lighting, was found throughout the tunnel. A motorcycle was also found inside, apparently used to dig and to transport materials for the tunnel.
Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is estimated to be worth about $1 billion.
El Chapo -- meaning "The Short One" or "shorty" -- so dubbed because of his 5-foot-6-inch frame, was captured in Guatemala in 1993 and then extradited to Mexico to face murder and drug trafficking charges. He escaped from prison in 2001 by hiding in a laundry cart after bribing prison guards and was re-captured in February 2014. Guzmán's previous escape cost him about $2.5 million.
