Mexico mountain meth lab may be top drug lord's hide-out

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican troops have found what may be a hide-out of the country's No. 1 drug lord at a giant methamphetamine lab hidden in the northern Sierra among cabins equipped with caviar face cream and escort catalogues.

Mexican media published photos of a complex of 22 secluded mountain cabins, camouflaged to be invisible from the air. One was outfitted with a king-sized bed, luxury clothes, satellite television, pirated movies and high-speed Internet.

The daily Reforma said army officials suspected the well-equipped cabin was used by top fugitive Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, or his associate Ismael Zambada, to oversee operations at the largest synthetic drug lab ever found in Mexico.

Guzman, who escaped from a high-security jail in 2001 hidden in a laundry van, has eluded all attempts to catch him since President Felipe Calderon launched an army-led war on drug gangs on taking power in December 2006.

Drug experts say he changes his cell phone every day to avoid being tracked.

Calderon's drug war has become the biggest challenge of his presidency, as the army assault has sparked new turf wars and killings between rival cartels that have left more than 13,000 people dead, including many police, in under three years.

The army confirmed the discovery of the meth lab but did not comment on whether Guzman might have used it as a base.

The secret complex is located in the same region of the northern state of Durango where Guzman, in his mid-fifties, married an 18-year-old beauty pageant winner in a lavish secret ceremony in 2007. A local archbishop said in June that Guzman was known to be living in the area.

The cabins have running water and some had catalogues of models and actresses with photos and contact information.

Guzman, nicknamed Shorty for his 5-feet tall stature, is blamed for setting off a wave of killings in the northern border cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana in recent months after he tried to muscle in on the territory of local cartels.

(Reporting by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Catherine Bremer and Jackie Frank)