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Tamaulipas authorities are on the hunt for two prison guards who are accused of helping 41 inmates escape from the Matamoros municipal detention center Thursday early morning.

The escape from CEDES — formerly known as CERESO — took place between 4 and 5 a.m. at the center when 38 federal inmates, three state inmates and two prison guards fled the center, said State Security Secretary Jose Ives Soberón Tijerina.

The CEDES is located in the outskirts of Matamoros in the rural community of Santa Adelaida. The detention center is located about 15 miles from Brownsville.

The two prison guards are identified as Jose Angel Reyes Segovia and Agapito Uvalle Escalante.

As a result of the escape, Soberón Tijerina fired the CEDES director Jaime Cano Gallardo and the state director for the detention centers Orlando Sauceda Pinta.

"They are subject to an investigation," Soberón Tijerina said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the entire staff of the detention center, including administrators, guards and secretarial staff were placed under the care of state investigators who were looking into the escape.

The security of the facility was turned over to the Tamaulipas Special Police (PET), a branch of the state police that is trained in special weapons and tactics.

According to press releases from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the Mexican army and navy, (SEDENA and SEMAR), the majority of alleged members of organized crime including the Zetas criminal organization and the Gulf Cartel that have been arrested in the recent gunfights were being housed in the Matamoros CEDES under federal charges.

It could not be confirmed if the escapees are part of either the Zetas or the Gulf Cartel, which are said to be engaged in a violent armed struggle for control of the various "plazas" or regions throughout the state.

According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration documents, the Zetas began as a rapid response team from the Mexican army. The group was designed to fight drug cartels; however, shortly after their inception, the Zetas switched sides and became the personal guard of cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillén.

After Cardenas Guillén was arrested in Matamoros, the Zetas began operating as a separate entity working with the Gulf Cartel, DEA said.

In late February, the two organizations began fighting over the slaying of a Zeta lieutenant who was mistakenly killed by Gulf Cartel members.

When the fighting started the Sinaloa Cartel and the Familia Michoacana joined forces with the Gulf Cartel in order to take out the Zetas, Mexican authorities said. It is rumored that the Zetas are being helped by the Beltran –Leyva and the Juarez cartels.

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