Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is no stranger to giving the federales the slip.

In 2001, the drug lord bribed his way out of the slammer after eight years behind bars.

The former head of the notorious Sinaloa Drug Cartel was recaptured last year, but didn't stay long.

After disappearing from view of prison security cameras Saturday night, guards found his cell empty.

National security commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido says Guzman escaped through a tunnel in his cell that stretched more than a mile. 

"At this time, 18 individuals from different areas of the prison are being transferred to Mexico City for questioning."

Security forces have fanned out to search roads near the prison in the State of Mexico, about 60 miles west of the capital.

Guzman once made Forbes' list of billionaires and is also wanted by the United States.