Gunmen who killed 17 people at a party in northern Mexico earlier this month were let out of prison to carry out the attack, state prosecutors say.
Guards at a prison in Durango state are accused of lending the inmates weapons and vehicles to commit the murders in neighbouring Coahuila state before returning them to their cells.
The same group of prisoners are thought to have carried out other killings.
The prison director and at least two other officers are under investigation.
Contract killings
The killings in the city of Torreon in Coahuila state were traced to Gomez Palacio prison in neighbouring Durango state through bullets found at the crime scene, which matched assault rifles assigned to the guards, attorney-general's office spokesman Ricardo Najera said.
"They were allowed out of prison to kill using the weapons of the guards and travelling in official vehicles," he said.
Mr Najera said the prisoners were acting as contract killers for a drugs gang, and were thought to have carried out two other mass killings in Torreon earlier this year using the same weapons.
"The criminals carried out the executions as part of a settling of accounts with members of a rival organised crime gang. But they also killed innocent civilians in a cowardly manner before returning to their cells."
Investigators are questioning all of the prison guards as well as about half the inmates in the prison.
Coahuila state, which borders Texas, has been the scene of a bloody battle between rival drugs gangs fighting for control of smuggling routes into the US.
The Zetas cartel is being challenged from its former ally, the Gulf Cartel, in an alliance with the Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man.
The Mexican government says almost 25,000 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon deployed the army to fight the drugs gangs in December 2006.
Corrupt prison guards/wardens who release prisoners to do contract killings. Reminds me of a bad B-movie, nevermind stuff like this happens in real life as well.
I saw this, thought about posting it, and then my brain hurt when I was trying to comprehend what I was seeing so I buggered off to play SWG instead, but... I didn't know work-release programs extended to wetwork!
I'm starting to seriously wonder how close Mexico is coming to "failed state" status. Not close yet, but... This is lunacy, here. Prisoners being released from prison, armed and provided with weapons to go and murder?
(I'm kind of stupified they actually went back to the jail when they were done.)
CaptainChewbacca wrote:Dude...
Way to overwork a metaphor Shadow. I feel really creeped out now.
I am an artist, metaphorical mind-fucks are my medium.
So basically it's so corrupt that the prisons are also in the pay of the crime syndicates? Man, Mexico.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Quick serious question : Why did the contract killers return to their cells ? Is the situation so bad they were confident their crime bosses would pull strings to get them out as per some plan ?
I have to tell you something everything I wrote above is a lie.
Sarevok wrote:Mexico may make The Expendables look realistic.
Quick serious question : Why did the contract killers return to their cells ? Is the situation so bad they were confident their crime bosses would pull strings to get them out as per some plan ?
My uninformed guess is that it's their rock hard alibi. As long as they don't leave too much evidence during their time outside, nobody would think about them as suspects.
It's the ultimate in plausible deniability. They can't possibly have killed anyone, since they're in jail! So, even with a murder weapon, who will be your suspect? No one, or the wrong one! This is genius.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
They probably feel safer inside a prison they can leave when they need to. Those walls do a good job of protecting them once they are behind them. Somehow I do not think these guys get messed with much while they are in the clink.
They probably feel safer inside a prison they can leave when they need to. Those walls do a good job of protecting them once they are behind them. Somehow I do not think these guys get messed with much while they are in the clink.
Most likely this. These guys are safer behind bars than they are out on the streets, where they would be exposed to the full wrath of the rival drug cartels. In prison, they're fed, clothed, and sheltered from the attentions of rival gangs. At least until one of them gets some guys on the inside and pays the warden more money to look the other way than the first group paid him to let them go out on contract killings.
More then likely, prison life might be pretty comfortable for these guys.
Beside being feed, clothed, and sheltered, and having one hell of an alibi, they can go out, perform contract killings for large sums of money, go back to where it's safe, and leave the money they are paid in protected bank accounts to accumulate interest.
Then, when they eventually get out of jail, they leave the country, and take millions of dollars with them.
Also, if the guards are corrupt enough to take out and arm prisoners to go on killing sprees, the guards bringing stuff in for them is well within the realms of 'more then likely'.
Hell, they could be living more comfortable (if slightly restricted) lives then most of Mexico!
I've been asked why I still follow a few of the people I know on Facebook with 'interesting political habits and view points'.
It's so when they comment on or approve of something, I know what pages to block/what not to vote for.
wautd wrote:
Corrupt prison guards/wardens who release prisoners to do contract killings. Reminds me of a bad B-movie, nevermind stuff like this happens in real life as well.
An author of some book on the drug war (can't remember his name or what his book is titled, but he was interviewed by CBC Radio One) said that one of the deadliest hitmen in Mexico is a police officer. The guy claims to have killed over 500 people.
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