Juan Larrinson Castro Estupinan, known as Matamba, is a powerful figure in the Gulf Clan drug trafficking organization.

He was detained last May and accused of asset laundering and of trafficking cocaine and heroin.

But on Friday, he escaped from the La Picota prison in Bogota, allegedly with inside help.

President Ivan Duque told reporters that he had instructed the attorney general to ensure that those who helped Castro Estupinan escape are arrested.

One guard has already been detained, Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz said.

Duque said he was leading investigators in hatching a plan to "recapture this criminal."

Castro Estupinan is also under investigation for committing crimes with the aim of committing murder, as well as extortion and the illegal carrying of weapons.

Formerly a communist guerrilla, he subsequently fought on the side of right-wing paramilitaries during Colombia's 60-year conflict between the government and radical left-wing rebels.

He then struck a deal with Gulf Clan leader Dairo Usuga, known as Otoniel, who is also in prison, to take control of a group of 200 men inside the cartel, authorities said.

After Castro Estupinan's escape, Duque announced "a comprehensive reform of Colombia's penitentiary and prison system."

The National Penitentiary and Prisons Institute (Inpec) has been embroiled in several scandals.

Earlier this month, the government fired the Inpec head and the director of the country's largest prison over release permits granted to businessman Carlos Mattos, who is accused of bribery.

In videos published by the Caracol television channel, Mattos can be seen leaving La Picota prison on two separate occasions in an Inpec vehicle.

The videos also show him walking around unaccompanied and entering a building where his offices are.

"The system cannot continue with this behavior without there being exemplary punishments," said Duque.