Drug cartel members dig way to freedom

Twelve ‘highly dangerous’ members of two Mexican drug cartels have reportedly tunnelled their way to freedom from prison.

The inmates, members of the Zetas and the Northeast Cartel, were serving sentences ranging from eight to 57 years for drug charges, robbery, kidnapping, and murder.

Prison authorities say they had likely spent the past five or six months digging the 50-meter tunnel out of the Cieneguillas prison in Zacatecas, using ongoing construction to hide their work.

The tunnel emerged just outside the prison fence, where the inmates piled into three waiting cars and sped off.