8 Mexican officers accused of helping 'El Chapo' escape could be freed

MEXICO CITY, June 8 (UPI) -- Eight Mexican federal police officers held without bail on suspicion of helping drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escape from prison could be freed over due process violations.

A judge for Mexico's Fifth Unitary Court ordered an investigation into possible due process violations connected to Article 17 of Mexico's constitution, which relates to arrest, imprisonment and trials.

The arrested officers were all in Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison in July when Guzman escaped. The officers' lawyer, Alberto de la Cruz, told Radio Formula that authorities do not have enough evidence to hold his clients indefinitely.

De la Cruz said the due process violation committed was the failure of the public prosecutor to clearly notify his clients about the charges and evidence against them, particularly about which officer is facing which charges.

The judge could rule for the continued detainment of the officers or could free them depending on the due process investigation.

De la Cruz said there was a "possibility" his clients could be freed, adding that "we have an advantage" as it relates to the due process investigation.

Guzman escaped from prison in 2001 by hiding in a laundry cart after bribing prison guards, and was re-captured in February 2014. He was captured in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa on Jan. 8 after escaping from Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison on July 11.

Guzman's attorneys began work to block his extradition to the United States after it was approved by the Mexican government in late May.