MEXICO CITY: Mexico announced Monday it will close the Puente Grande federal prison made famous by the 2001 escape of convicted drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
The prison was known for such lax standards that it earned the nickname Puerta Grande, or Big Door.
The federal Public Safety Department did not give a specific reason for the closure, but said it was part of a modernization effort aimed at ensuring prisoners rights and rehabilitation.
The department said Monday all inmates currently at the prison will be transferred to other facilities. The complex, near the western city of Guadalajara, also houses at least one other state prison; it was not clear if that would remain open.
Guzman was serving a 20-year sentence when he escaped from the prison in 2001, purportedly in a laundry cart. According to other…