- A New Year’s celebration at a prison in northern Mexico turned deadly when a group of armed men opened fire, killing at least 14 people and causing the escape of over 24 inmates.
- The situation is currently “under control,” but the number of escaped prisoners has not been released.
- Mexico has been experiencing a wave of violence, with over 31,000 murders recorded in 2022 and over 33,000 in 2021, making them the two most violent years in the country’s history.
A riot inside a prison in northern Mexico on Sunday left at least 14 people dead, including prisoners and guards, and the escape of more than twenty inmates, according to preliminary information provided by military personnel.
According to initial reports, shooting during a New Year’s Eve visit cost the lives of 10 guards and four inmates of the Social Rehabilitation Center (Cereso) 3 in Ciudad Juarez, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.
According to the military group in the area, an armed commando aboard six vans arrived at the prison. There were already visitors waiting to see their inmates, opened fire and then entered and extracted several inmates.
But the attacks took place at various strategic points in the area. First, on Manuel Gómez Morín Avenue where they attacked the municipal police, but after a chase, they managed to detain four men in a Ford Expedition van.
There was another armed robbery on Avenida Panamericana where police officers were shot at. Still, after repelling the aggression, they managed to shoot the two men shooting at them from a Hummer pickup truck.
In a press release, the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) announced that the situation is now “under control” in prison. However, it did not provide information on the number of people who escaped from the Cereso.
“Personnel from the Mexican Army, the National Guard, the State Public Security Secretariat, and the State Investigation Agency are collaborating with the FGE to restore tranquility in the Cereso,” he said.
“It is important to point out that the actions in the Cereso have been carried out following the Maximum Alert Protocol, which is contemplated in the National Law of Penal Execution,” they informed through a communiqué and closed by warning that they maintain control in the area in coordination with the three levels of government.
However, the municipal president of the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Cruz Perez, commented that “there is talk of 10 guards and four inmates (dead)”.
For their part, it was reported that inside the Cereso, forensic medical personnel and forensic services are carrying out the corresponding work. At the same time, it was noted that an operation was deployed with the “Eagle 2” helicopter, which flies over the border city in northern Mexico.
Five months ago, a similar incident occurred in the same city, leaving 11 people dead and several businesses burned down by organized crime.
The country is experiencing a wave of violence and this 2022 closed with 31,127 registered murders, while, in 2021, Mexico reported 33,308 homicides, after the two most violent years in its history, under the mandate of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with 34,690 murder victims, in 2019, and 34,554, in 2020.