Did Endemic Corruption Leads to Mexican Jailbreak? John Robles - Voice of Russia
go to original September 19, 2012

In the Mexican state of Coahuila 131 prisoners have escaped through a tunnel that was months in the making. The circumstances point to another case where corrupt officials and prison guards are suspected of involvement, underlining the need for reforms and the vetting of Mexico’s law enforcement officials. The problem is one that affects not only Mexico but the international community as well.

Another massive prison break in Mexico has the world focused once again on Mexico’s ongoing war against vicious drug gangs and battling drug lords.

The facts that we know are as follows; 131 inmates escaped from the prison in Piedras Negras in the Mexican state of Coahuila, a city near the US border close to Eagle Pass Texas. They apparently used a 21 feet (6.5 meters) long and 4 feet (1.2 meters) wide tunnel that had been under construction for some time and it is suspected that prison officials may have been involved or had knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the escape.

According to reports the prison housed less than 800 inmates and was not overcrowded, leading to further speculation as to the involvement of the guards since the number of escapees amounted to about a 5th of the prison’s entire population.

The US Associated Press, in an article published by the UK’s Mail Online, quotes a public safety official in Coahuila, Jorge Luis Moran,as saying that the escape was the work of the Zetas drug cartel and that even prisoners who were not members of the cartel were forced to go along.

Mexican media alleged that the Zeta cartel is engaged in a battle over the illegal narcotics corridor into the United States, through which millions of dollars worth of drugs enters the US, with the Sinaloa cartel run by drug lord Joaquin Guzman who is at the top of Mexico’s most wanted list. The Zeta cartel has been hit hard by the federal police and its members are dwindling due to arrests and fatal shootings, so the Mexican authorities believe the escape was planned to refill the ranks of the cartel.

In a statement released on Twitter the President of Mexico Felipe Calderon said that the escape was a deplorable act and that the vulnerability of state law enforcement institutions must be corrected.

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