Mexico City , Mexico ( CNN ) -- State and federal authorities in Mexico traded barbs over the escape of 141 inmates from a border city prison as police stepped up security and searched for convicts on the run . The inmates -- apparently in collusion with prison workers -- escaped through a service entrance for staff vehicles , according to information from a preliminary state investigation presented to reporters Friday . The prison director also `` disappeared , '' said Antonio Garza Garcia , public safety secretary for Tamaulipas state . After state authorities divulged the massive escape at the Executions of Sanctions Center , Mexico 's interior ministry slammed local officials in Nuevo Laredo , Mexico . `` It is deplorable , the absence of effective measures of control and guarding on the part of local authorities , which has allowed frequent escapes from prisons , putting community security at risk , '' the ministry said in a statement . Garza fired back , arguing that state officials had repeatedly asked the federal government for help guarding prisons , which often house federal prisoners serving time for their connection with drug gangs . `` The state does not have the capacity to stop their escape , which is why we have insisted on the support of the federal government to guarantee that they would be well guarded and thus avoid massive escapes , '' a statement from Antonio Garza Garcia 's office said . Earlier this year there were at least two other high-profile prison escapes in Tamaulipas , which borders Texas . In September , 85 inmates used a ladder to clear a wall and escape from a prison in the border city of Reynosa , state media reported . In March , 40 inmates escaped from another prison in the border city of Matamoros . On Friday , Garza told reporters that the escape was reported after guards took roll call around 7 p.m. Thursday . `` We will have no restriction on punishing whoever has to be punished , '' Garza said , according to the state-run Notimex news agency . `` We are going to act with the full weight of the law . '' At least 58 of the prisoners who escaped Friday were federal inmates , he said . About 1,700 federal inmates are in prisons statewide , Garza said . Security at eight other penitentiaries has been tightened , he told Radio Formula . Tamaulipas has been a battleground in a bloody turf war between the Zetas gang and the Gulf cartel , but authorities did not indicate Friday whether drug gangs were involved in the escape . CNN 's Ariel Crespo contributed to this report .
Federal officials say local authorities ' handling of the prisons is ` ` deplorable '' The state says it ca n't prevent escapes and has asked for federal help . The prison 's superintendent is missing , and an investigation suggests inmates colluded with inmates . At least two other high - profile escapes occurred in the state this year .