Argentina’s security forces are on “maximum alert” due to the possibility that fugitive Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman might have traveled to the South American country, a government official said Friday.
Security Secretary Sergio Berni said the Federal Intelligence Agency is analyzing intelligence from abroad that indicates Guzman could be on the border between Argentina and Chile, the state-run news agency Telam reported.
The only known links between Guzman and South American countries are with cocaine-producing nations such as Colombia and Peru.
There have been reported sightings in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and in Costa Rica, although it turned out to be a town in Sinaloa state, Mexico, and not the Central American country.
Last month, Guzman suffered injuries while trying to escape as authorities closed in on him, Mexican officials said.
A Mexican official with knowledge of the investigation last month said the search also includes efforts in the United States.
Authorities are also looking for Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel, who they believe could be with her husband, the source said. The couple has property in the Los Angeles area.
The source said authorities are not looking to arrest or detain Coronel, who is a U.S. citizen and gave birth to the couple’s twin daughters in 2011. They just want to see where she is.
The source spoke one day after Mexican authorities said they have detained Guzman’s brother-in-law and several others suspected of organizing the drug lord’s escape from prison.
Guzman broke out of a Mexican maximum-security prison through a tunnel in July.
Nicknamed “Shorty” for his height, Guzman had escaped once before from a prison, in 2001, reportedly hiding in a laundry cart.
Government officials hailed his capture in 2014 as a sign they were winning the drug war. His July escape sent authorities scrambling and sparked widespread criticism of corruption in Mexico.