Report: Gangs Control 60 Percent of Mexican Prisons Associated Press
go to original September 25, 2012

MEXICO CITY — A new report suggest that gangs control about 60 percent of Mexico’s prisons, a finding that follows a series of high-profile mass escapes.

The Mexican government’s National Human Rights Commission says it visited 100 state and local prisons, and found that gangs controlled activities ranging from internal security to services provided to inmates. Drug cartels control some of the facilities.

Commission president Raul Plascencia said Monday that the agency also found overcrowding in the jails.

The report comes one week after 131 inmates broke out of a northern Mexico prison in an escape coordinated by the Zetas drug cartel.

The commission said there were 14 mass escapes from Mexican prisons in 2010 and 2011, involving 521 inmates.

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