Guatemala launches search for fugitive female assassin boss

Guatemalan security forces launched a search for the female leader of a hit squad for hire after she escaped the prison where she was serving a 94- year sentence.

The head of the national police force, Nery Ramos, said police stations across the country were on alert looking out for Marixa Lemus, 45, following her jail break from a military penitentiary north of Guatemala City.

"An alert has gone out nationally and operations are underway to locate her," he said.

Nicknamed "The Boss" ("La Patrona" in Spanish), Lemus started her lengthy sentence in March 2015 after being convicted of heading up the gang that carried out contract killings and kidnappings.

The group was notably accused of carrying out a bomb attack on December 13, 2013 against the mayor of the southeast town of Moyuta, which failed to harm its target.

Lemus had tried to escape once before, from a women's prison in the capital in May last year, but police caught her hiding in woodland near the penitentiary.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)