03/19/12 – Nearly a month after the February 19 massive prison riot and break in the Apodaca medium security prison, which is just outside of Monterrey, Nuevo León, authorities reported a correction to the number of inmates who escaped during the violent uprising, increasing the number originally reported from 30 to 37. (To read more details about the prison break itself, click here). Authorities attributed the incorrect number to the fact that they received the original report from then prison director Gerónimo Miguel Andrés Martínez, who has since been arrested for his role in the prison break that led to the escape of 37 Zetas prisoners and the death of 44 inmates, all of whom were members of the rival Gulf Cartel. Along with Andrés Martínez, 20 other former prison staff and police officers were recently arraigned in the Second Criminal Court in the Third Judicial District of Monterrey, where a judge ordered that all 21 defendants, including the former prison director, be held in prison until investigations conclude and their trials commence.
In addition, authorities recently released the names of a number of the escaped inmates, along with their original crimes committed that led to their prison sentence, which included robbery, homicide, selling or transporting of firearms, and kidnapping. Only one of the 37 fugitives has since been recaptured by authorities since the February incident –Agustín Manuel Olvera Pérez– who gave a rather damning testimony to officials in the State Agency of Investiation (Agencia Estatal de Investigaciones, AEI) about the corrupt role of prison guards and staff, not only in the break itself, but in their everyday interactions with the inmates. According to Diario de Yucatán, the recaptured inmate pointed specifically to guards allowing Zetas-affiliated inmates to have prostitutes, throw parties, sell other prisoners alcohol and drugs, and occasionally leave the prison facilities without supervision, allegedly “to kill [their] enemies.”
In response to Olvera Pérez’s accusations and to the ongoing investigations and looming trials ahead, former Apodaca prison director Andrés Martínez denied the claims of corruption and ties to the Zetas. According to Proceso, he specifically decried the original rumors that surfaced after the February massacre that the Zetas paid him 40,000 pesos for his cooperation, and that he allowed inmates to leave the prison grounds from time to time. He also called on authorities to investigate the role members of the military have played in transporting illegal drugs, weapons, and alcohol in and out of the prison.
Although the investigations are ongoing, the allegations and arrests of prison security and staff in the Apodaca riot are not a surprise given the notorious reputation Mexico’s prison system has for being corrupt and inefficient. To read more stories involving Mexico’s current prison dilemma, including overcrowding, click here.
Sources:
“Ordenan aprehensión contra 21 ex funcionarios de Apodaca.” El Universal. March 15, 2012.
Oviedo, Iram. “Fueron 37 los presos fugados en Apodaca.” Milenio. March 17, 2012.
