Hard-Won Penitentiary Reform Targets Convicted Kidnappers Across Mexico Monica Ortiz Uribe - Fronteras Desk
go to original March 11, 2014

Inmates stand inside a cell block inside the Chihuahua state prison. (Philip Connors)

CHIHUAHUA CITY — Mexico is making an effort to combat high rates of kidnapping across the country. Part of that initiative is happening in state prisons, where convicted and accused kidnappers will be concentrated in a single cell block.

The first prison to implement the plan is the state prison outside Chihuahua City in northern Mexico. More than 500 inmates from across the state have been transferred to a single wing within the prison. Cell phone signals within the prison walls have been blocked.

Eduardo Gonzalez, a prison spokesman, said in the past inmates would use illegal phones to order kidnappings and extortions in the outside world. "The inmates used to run the prison," he said.

Now a hard-won penitentiary reform has weakened the criminals' control. In the last four years, prison officials have implemented security upgrades, including stricter checks on visitors. This prison was recently accredited by the American Correctional Association.

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