31 die in Mexico jail violence

Friday, January 6, 2012

According to authorities in Mexico, 31 prisoners have died as the result of a fight which broke out in a prison, involving alleged members of drug businesses. Thirteen prisoners were also wounded in the brawl, which occurred in the Altamira municipality on Wednesday.

Temporary weapons, such as knives, were reportedly used by inmates to attack each other; a signifcant number of deaths occurred as a result of the use of weapons like these, authorities stated. One anonymous state official spoke of deaths occurring due to clubs and stones being used as weapons. The violence apparently commenced when a number of prisoners entered an area of the prison they were prohibited from entering and attacked the prisoners situated there. Police officers, with the assistance of soldiers, were eventually able to intervene and restore order within the prison, officials reported. Marines are also understood to have intervened.

22 of the prisoners killed had been sentenced to prison for state crimes, while the other nine had been jailed for federal offences, according to Mexico's public safety department. The department provided no further information about the incident. According to Voice of America [VoA], a significant number of the inmates at the prison are serving sentences on drug-related charges.

Although unconfirmed by the Mexican government, it has been reported by Mexican media that the violence occurred between members of the Gulf cartel and Los Zetas, two Mexican drug cartels which rival each other. It is understood by VoA that violence from the Mexican Drug War spreads into prisons frequently. According to BBC News Online, a substantial number of Mexican jails are over capacity for prisoners and often experience drug cartel-related violence.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

This article includes material from 31 Killed in Mexican Prison Fight by VOA News, which is in the public domain.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

Mexican Drug War

"Mexico prison fight kills 31 inmates in Tamaulipas" — BBC News Online, January 5, 2012
AP. "31 dead in Mexico prison knife brawl" — The Guardian, January 5, 2012
"31 Killed in Mexican Prison Fight" — Voice of America, January 5, 2012

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License