Days after Reynosa prison riot where 6 Die, 7 inmates break out

Ildefonso Ortiz 

REYNOSA — Authorities were on high alert after seven inmates escaped from a Tamaulipas state prison in Reynosa on Wednesday.

How they managed to break out remains unclear, but Tamaulipas authorities said in a news release that six of the escapees faced federal charges and one had state charges.

Prison employees became aware of the escape early Wednesday after the morning headcount found seven prisoners unaccounted for, the news release shows. Once the alarm was sounded, federal and state authorities surrounded the compound and began what proved to be an unsuccessful search for them in the nearby areas.

Federal investigators are taking a close look at prison employees to determine whether they were involved in the escape.

The breakout comes just three days after six prisoners were killed with makeshift shanks during a riot. In that case, authorities have obtained confessions from three prisoners who claimed that the riot was over a long-standing conflict.

The men who broke out of prison Wednesday were identified as:

Marcos de León Medina

Jesús Flores Tamez

Homero Guadalupe Martínez Gaona

Leonel Ortiz Peña

Mario Santos Pérez Sosa

José Luis Rodríguez Sánchez

Ernesto Sánchez Rivera

Prison breaks and riots have become commonplace throughout Tamaulipas, where drug cartels free their imprisoned members to bolster their ranks to fight their rivals:

- In February 2013, 12 inmates were broken out by a convoy of gunmen from the prison in Miguel Alemán, which lies just south of the border from Roma.

- In September 2012, 131 Zetas broke out of a prison in Coahuila state.

- In December 2010, the Zetas carried out a similar operation in Nuevo Laredo, where 41 prison guards were charged with aiding the escape of 141 prisoners.

- In July 2011, the Zetas broke 59 inmates out in Nuevo Laredo amid a firefight that killed seven inmates.
- Feb. 2012-44 Gulf Cartel members killed by Zetas in a Apodaca prison riot, then they walked out 

The Zetas’ chief rival, the Gulf Cartel, also has carried out prison breaks:

- In March 2010, 40 inmates and two guards walked out the front gates of a Matamoros prison.

- In April 2010, in Reynosa, 13 inmates were busted out by a convoy of 10 gunmen who engaged guards in a firefight.

- In September 2010, 85 inmates used a ladder to scale the walls of the same prison in Reynosa. 

Six Die in Prison Riot in Reynosa 

Ciudad Victoria. - A clash between inmates at Reynosa (Sanctions Enforcement Centre of Reynosa (Cedes)recorded Sunday night yielded a six deaths, reported the Ministry of Public Security and the Attorney General.

A public prosecutor, State Police, Forensic Services, were present at the prison to start a preliminary investigation.

In a joint statement, the agencies certified the death of six inmates from a quarrel in which homemade shanks were used as weapons.

The victims were identified as Jose Guadalupe Marín Rocha, 41 years old; Lauro Trevino, 31, Humberto Hernandez Gonzalez, 36, Jose Santos Gonzalez Villarreal, 41; Carlos Grajales Mario Garza, 31, and Rafael Lopez Shoes, 30 years of age.

While inmates Agapito Arredondo, 28, Humberto Gamez, 26, and Juan Manuel Bautista Cruz, 36 years old, admitted and  accepted responsibility for these facts, arguing that the reason for the quarrel were ongoing quarrels they had with the now deceased.

Ministerial authorities were continuing investigations to establish the crimes for which the inmates will be prosecuted as two of the inmates responsible died.


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