Topo Chico prison
 Watchtower on the outer wall |
|
| Information about the institution | |
|---|---|
| Surname | Centro Preventivo de Reinserción Social Topo Chico |
| Reference year | 1943 |
| Detention places | 3685 |
| Institution management | Salazar Robles (since 2012) |
The Topo Chico prison , officially called Centro Preventivo de Reinserción Social Topo Chico in Spanish , is a Mexican prison.
Location and description
The approximately five hectare, rectangular prison area is located directly in the city center, about 2.5 km west of the main train station of Monterrey in the state of Nuevo León .
The facility is chronically overcrowded; originally built for 3,685 inmates, in some cases well over 4,000 inmates are housed there. The conditions of detention are considered catastrophic. According to a UN report from 2014, there is neither running water nor electrical light in the cells and in some cases no ventilation either.
The grievances that have prevailed there for decades have hit the headlines again and again.
history
The new prison building was put into operation in 1943 and replaced a previous building from the 18th century that was demolished.
On March 27, 1980, inmates revolted in the prison, during which Alfonso Domene, then head of the institution, and three of his secretaries were taken hostage. The uprising was bloodily suppressed, but Domene was killed.
In February 2011, the then head of security of the prison, Francisco Martínez Ramírez, was kidnapped and murdered at his home and the body was deposited in a plastic box in an abandoned vehicle near the prison.
The press secretary of the prison, Jorge Domene, announced in the following year (Feb. 2012) with that three inmates who because of kidnapping one ate, had been murdered by two fellow inmates.
On the night of February 10-11, 2016, inmates of two rival criminal gangs, those of the Gulf cartel and those of the Los Zetas , came into conflict. At least 52 people were killed and dozens more injured in the following bloody clashes, in which prison staff immediately intervened.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ nl.gob.mx
- ↑ UN report 2014 (pdf.)
- ↑ News reports BBC from February 6, 2011 (Engl.)
- ↑ News reports CNN of 21 February 2012 (Engl.)
- ↑ Bloody clashes in the Topo Chico prison SHZ press report from Feb. 11, 2016
Coordinates: 25 ° 43 ′ 30.1 ″ N , 100 ° 20 ′ 40.9 ″ W.