Men who allegedly bought land for 'El Chapo' tunnel must stay in jail

MEXICO CITY, March 30 (UPI) -- A Mexican judge refused to release two men accused of helping drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escape prison by purchasing the land under which his tunnel was dug.

The two men are accused of buying the property that was used to construct a small building where a mile-long tunnel was built underneath that Guzman used to escape Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison in July. He was recaptured on Jan. 8.

A judge in Mexico City's 10th District Court sustained the holding injunction, which the unidentified defendants claimed violated their constitutional rights under a Mexican law that protects the human and fundamental rights of individuals, Radio Formula reports. The men will be detained for 40 to 80 additional days.

The judge said the men will not be held indefinitely, but until a thorough investigation into their alleged crimes is concluded. The court also ruled the men have not had their visiting rights revoked, stating the men have been visited by their family members on nearly a daily basis, El Universal reports.

Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel is credited with dominating the illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States. Mexican authorities in the last week arrested two high-level Sinaloa Cartel members: Raul Beltran Quintero, the alleged cartel boss of Mexico's Sonora state, and Juan Manuel Alvarez Inzunza, who is alleged to have laundered about $4 billion in the last ten years for Guzman's drug empire.