Embarrassing New Escape Highlights the Vulnerability of Mexican Jails Alan Hernandez - VICE News
go to original June 6, 2016

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's movie-style escape through a tunnel from his cell in a maximum-security prison in July last year shone a global spotlight on how vulnerable Mexican jails can be to corruption.

The recent flight of two convicted kidnappers — who walked to freedom after sawing through some metal bars while they were supposed to be in the bathroom — has highlighted the fact that Mexican jailbreaks are not just the privilege of world-famous drug lords.

According to government statistics, 590 prisoners escaped between 2010 and 2015 — an average of about two per week.

A closer look at the figures shows that mass escapes from prisons in drug wars zones peaked in 2010 and that the number of escapees has fallen since then. Even so, there remains a steady trickle of jailbreaks involving less people but still underlining how corroded Mexican prisons are.

"The government's response has been to try to minimize what happens, try to make it smaller than it is in order not to reveal the underlying problems," said Leslie Solís of the policy watchdog México Evalúa. "If the government doesn't do anything it will keep happening."

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Photo: PGJDF

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