HomeNewsAnalysisInSight Map: Major Prison Breaks in Mexico
ANALYSIS

InSight Map: Major Prison Breaks in Mexico

INFOGRAPHICS / 18 JAN 2011 BY INSIGHT CRIME EN

In the latest of a series of prison breaks, on Monday fourteen inmates escaped from a penal center in Chihuahua, Mexico, where drug violence has led criminal syndicates like the Zetas to attempt multiple bold raids on the country's prisons.

El Universal reports that the men escaped from Aguiles Serden penitentiary after guards were distracted by gunfire, just before an armored vehicle rammed through the outer chain-link fence on the building’s west side. The vehicle drove 80 meters to the prison’s inner wall, about 15 inches thick and made of brick, where the inmates slipped through a gap and climbed into the car.

So far the raid appears to have been mostly facilitated by poor security conditions, including a non-electrified fence just two meters high, rather than collusion with prison guards, who are typically involved in these types of escapes. The investigation, however, is ongoing. 

 Authorities did manage to recapture five of the escaped inmates Tuesday during a manhunt. Prison guards at Aguiles Serden have previously been targeted for assassination, in what could be interpreted as evidence of corruption within the prison, as the hit was likely a vengeance killing after the officials did not collaborate with inmate demands.

The Chihuahua prison is an important holding center for gang operatives arrested in Ciudad Juarez, but most inmates are first-time offenders rather than top-level traffickers. These include street dealers or ex-security detail formerly employed by the city’s many street gangs, in particular the Aztecas and their rivals the Mexicles. It is the site of frequent riots between groups of inmates, indicating that, much like Ciudad Juarez, a criminal organization has not yet consolidated control of the prison’s illicit businesses. Violence within Aguiles Serden was so severe that in November, authorities transferred 62 inmates out of the facility, prompting the state attorney general to call the detention center “a time bomb.”

It is not yet clear whether the Zetas were involved with the Chihuahua escape, but, as indicated by the map below created by InSight showing major prison busts in 2010, the Zetas seemingly masterminded some of last year’s most dramatic security breaks.

Many of the major escapes were concentrated in one facility, the Reynosa Corrections Center, known by its acronym CEDES. What this appears to emphasize is the hold that the Zetas have over the security forces in Tamaulipas. In one escape from CEDES in September, when 86 inmates used a ladder to jump a wall, this shows a high level of collaboration from corrections officers and the local police force, who do not push through with a serious manhunt.

It is not clear whether a single, powerful group in the Aguiles Serden penitentiary in Chihuahua has managed to be as effective at corrupting prison authorities as the Zetas have been in Tamaulipas. Again, as indicated by the riots and violence prevalent within Aguiles Serden, power struggles between the Juarez gangs (and probably elements of the Sinaloa Cartel as well) means that, while there is almost certainly corruption here, a single group is not dominant here in the way that Zetas appear to dominate CEDES.

As indicated by the map below, the most serious security breach in 2010 happened in December 17, when an armed commando of alleged Zetas managed to free 151 prisoners from a facility outside Nuevo Laredo.


View Prison Escapes in Mexico in a larger map

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

FENTANYL / 1 DEC 2022

Nuevo Laredo was set ablaze following the capture of a Northeast Cartel leader. But what does this mean for the…

MEXICO / 7 DEC 2021

A daring prison break in central Mexico was focused on freeing the leader of a relatively modest oil theft group,…

DISPLACEMENT / 22 MAY 2023

Drone attacks carried out by the Familia Michoacana forced hundreds of residents of towns in Guerrero, Mexico, to flee their…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…