Seven inmates die during prison fight in northern Mexico

[News_Editor]

Seven inmates die during prison fight in northern Mexico

2011-10-14 17:02:35 GMT+7 (ICT)

MONTERREY, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- Seven people were killed on Thursday when a prison fight involving dozens of inmates broke out at a prison in northern Mexico, officials said on Friday. At least a dozen others were injured.

The fight involving some 60 inmates broke out at the Cadereyta Prison which is located in the city which carries the same name in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. Security forces were finally able to stop the fight about an hour after it had begun.

State Public Security spokesman Jorge Domene Zambrano said the fight began when group 'A' inmates, which consists of inmates considered 'highly dangerous' and many of whom are linked to organized crime, confronted group 'B' inmates, who are considered 'moderately dangerous.'

Authorities have already begun reviewing the surveillance video recorded during the fight to determine the initial cause. Some of the inmates' mattresses were set on fire at the beginning of the fight, but authorities are not ruling out that they could have been lit up in order to distract prison security officials.

The State's Attorney General Office identified four of the seven fatalities as Saul Quintero Martinez, Florentino Moreno Castillo, Juan Antonio Molina Flores and Jose Alfredo Gonzalez Jimenez. In addition, at least twelve others were seriously injured by sharp weapons and were receiving medical treatment.

Combined security forces including personnel from the Federal Police, Civil Force, Civil Protection and Firefighters were deployed to the prison where they are on high alert and carrying out a search throughout the facility for sharp weapons and firearms that could have been used during the fight.

According to preliminary reports, some of those involved in the fighting were linked to the leader of a kidnapping gang which had been arrested in 2009. As a result, the investigation is focusing on the death of Hector Fernandez Garza Garcia, also known as 'La Pechuga,' who authorities identified as the gang leader who operated in the prison.

Prison outbreaks and prison riots occur frequently in Mexico. In late July, seventeen people were killed when a group of prisoners in Ciudad Juarez broke into another area of the prison and assaulted thirteen of their rival inmates.

Mexico has been struggling to cope with an influx of criminals as President Felipe Calderón continues with his campaign against organized crime and drug cartels. According to government figures, a total of 15,273 drug-related crimes occurred in Mexico in 2010, while more than 42,000 people have died in drug-related violence since the campaign began in December 2006.

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