Mexicans Mount Search for Escaped Drug Kingpin Escobar

GUADALAJARA, Mexico —  Mexican police hunted for Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar after a tip that he may be in hiding here after escaping from a prison in his home country, the official news agency Notimex said Sunday.

Dozens of federal and municipal police officers, working with Interpol agents, looked for Escobar in Guadalajara homes and hotels, the agency said. On Saturday, they conducted a room-by-room search of the luxurious Hotel Fiesta Americana, but to no avail, police said.

Escobar, head of the Medellin drug cartel, escaped from a Colombian prison July 21 and has eluded capture ever since.

In the last six months, Mexican police have caught six Colombian and Mexican drug kingpins in Guadalajara, including former Medellin cartel member Javier Pardo Cardona, Notimex said. Guadalajara is 350 miles northwest of Mexico City.