Two prosecutors and five suspected criminals were killed in the operation on Monday, security authorities in the northern state of Chihuahua reported Monday. In the previous attack on the prison in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, 19 people were already killed.
An armed commando, traveling in armored vehicles, attacked the prison in Ciudad Juárez on New Year’s morning, allowing 25 inmates to escape. According to Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval, ten guards, seven prisoners and two attackers were killed. 14 prisoners and a guard were injured. According to Sandoval, five attackers were initially arrested after the attack.
Escaped drug lord sentenced to more than 200 years in prison
The detention center houses members of various criminal gangs and drug cartels in separate cell blocks. Among those who escaped was drug kingpin Ernesto Alfredo Piñón of the Juárez Cartel. The criminal known as “El Neto” was sentenced in 2010 to more than 200 years in prison for murder and kidnapping.
Shortly after his arrest in 2009, armed assailants tried to free the drug lord. “El Neto” was injured in the attack at the time.
Violence is the order of the day
Located on the US border, the city of Ciudad Juárez, with a population of 1.5 million, has for years suffered from the violence of rival drug cartels fighting for control of smuggling routes into the US. In the prison that has now been attacked, there have been repeated fights and uprisings in recent years. In March 2009, 20 people were killed in such an incident.
Mexican prisons are chronically overcrowded and violent confrontations are the order of the day. In recent years, the situation in prisons has further deteriorated due to conflicts between criminal gangs.
Mexican security authorities have been waging war against drug gangs in the country since 2006. According to official figures, more than 340,000 people have died. According to the authorities, most of these deaths are at the hands of criminal organizations.
(AFP)