He gave the order in an audio message broadcast over Mexican TV and radio stations on his way to France on a state visit when news of Guzman’s escape late Saturday night broke.
“I have given specific instructions to the national Attorney General ‘s Office (PGR) to recapture Guzman, who escaped from a maximum security federal prison Saturday”, he said.
Nieto also said he had instructed authorities to launch “a thorough and exhaustive investigation” into which prison, local or state officials were involved in the escape plan, if any.
Guzman was recaptured in 2014 after his first escape from a maximum security facility hidden inside a laundry basket.
He is said to have escaped this time through a large tunnel leading from his cell to a construction site located 1,500 meters southwest of the prison.
After news of the prison break broke out, the PGR initially rounded up 18 guards working at the Altiplano prison in central Mexico State for interrogation.
By early Sunday afternoon, however, the number of prison officials detained for questioning had reached 30, according to local media.
Pena Nieto’s message, reportedly broadcast from Mexico’s embassy in Paris, coincided with criticism from Mexico’s political opposition groups, both on the left and right.
The founder of the left-leaning Morena party, Andres Obrador, was reported to have called on the president to return immediately to attend to the emergency.
“I think it’s very serious. It’s a spectacular escape, it’s going to have many repercussions, not just in the country, but around the world.
“That’s why I think it would be wise for Enrique Pena Nieto to return immediately from France to attend to this matter.
“And also to avoid undergoing the embarrassment abroad,” Obrador was quoted as saying.
The country’s conservative National Action Party (PAN), meanwhile, issued a statement criticising the government’s anti- crime strategy.
It observed that the escape occurred while `the president and almost his entire cabinet’ were out of the country.
Nieto had acknowledged that Guzman’s escape was an `affront’ to the nation but said he would continue with his planned visit, due to the potential bilateral cooperation and employment opportunities it represents for Mexico