22/05/2009 / MEXICO

Fifty-three high profile criminals walk out of Mexican prison – literally

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This astounding CCTV footage showing 53 inmates escaping from a Mexican prison was released by the Attorney General's Office on Thursday.

The five-minute operation took place last Saturday morning at Cieneguillas prison in Zacatecas state, north Mexico. As we see at the start of the video, prisoners changed into normal clothes in the cell. A heavily-armed gang of 20 entered the prison - dressed as prison guards - tied up the officials (not seen) and released the prisoners. The prisoners and their rescuers then leave in the supposed police vans in which they arrived.

The authorities are now offering 53 million pesos (€3 million euros) worth of rewards for either the escapees themselves or information leading to the arrest of those who orchestrated the breakout, all believed to be members of the criminal organisation Gulf Cartel.

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Gabriel Infante's picture

Gabriel Infante

The CCTV footage

“Nobody's at all surprised here”

Blogger Gabriel Infante is one of our Observers in Mexico. His blog.

This isn't the first time a prison blunder has been caught on camera, but this is one that the authorities can't avoid. It's pretty obvious that the guards are always involved in prison breakouts. But what this footage shows is that the guards did absolutely nothing to stop the bandits - a sign that they're quite deeply involved with the organisation.

Nobody's at all surprised here; we just find it funny. Corruption in prisons is seen as completely normal. We know for example that smuggling is easy because kidnapping demands are made from inside with mobile phones smuggled into the jail. Despite what they say, the authorities simply don't do anything to stop even that, which shows how out of control they are."

Gabriel Infante's picture

Gabriel Infante

  • Mexico
  • Degree in Broadcasting Comunication and Journalism
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