Altamira prison brawl

For the riot in Brazil, see 2019 Altamira prison riot.

Altamira prison brawl
Part of Mexican Drug War
Coordinates	22°20′N 97°52′W
Date	4 January 2012 (2012-01-04)
Target	Gulf Cartel
Attack type	Mass murder
Deaths	31
Injured	13
Motive	Gang rivalry

The Altamira prison brawl was a deadly fight that occurred on 4 January 2012 in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico.^[1] Officials from the state of Tamaulipas confirmed that 31 people were killed, with another thirteen injured.^[2] The fight started after a drug gang burst into a section of the prison where they were banned from, attacking their rival gang housed there, triggering the fight.^[3] During the altercation, the inmates used several kinds of cold weapons (non-firearms) to kill their opponents.^[4] The prisoners also used sticks and knives to massacre the members of the rival gang.^[5]

Alejandro Poiré Romero, Mexico's Secretary of the Interior, pledged to work with the state of Tamaulipas.^[6] In addition, the United Nations condemned the massacre and asked for the National Human Rights Commission to "monitor conditions of detention throughout Mexico."^[7]

Causes

The state government of Tamaulipas reported that a group of inmates entered a prohibited area inside the prison and attacked the members of their rival gang.^[8] Local media indicated that the brawl was between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, two drug cartels that fight for territory in the northeastern part of Mexico. La Jornada newspaper, in addition, said that prison in Altamira had the capacity to house 2,000 prisoners, but actually had more than 3,000.^[9]

Past incidents

Prison killings

On 15 October 2011, in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, 20 inmates were killed and 12 were severely wounded in a prison brawl.^[10] Some sources revealed that the killings were "planned executions."^[11] Earlier on 6 August 2010, 14 inmates were also killed in a riot at the federal prison in Matamoros.^[12] Moreover, in 1991, the time when Juan García Ábrego was the supreme leader of the Gulf Cartel, the federal prison in Matamoros experienced the massacre of 18 people.^[13][14][15] In the nearby border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, 21 inmates were killed after a shooting inside the prison on 20 October 2008.^[16]

On 26 July 2011 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a prison brawl left 17 inmates dead and 4 injured after "one group of inmates attacked rivals from another drug gang."^[17] Some of the corpses were shot with assault rifles, and authorities investigates whether the weapons used in the attack were "stolen from prison guards, homemade or smuggled" inside the prison.^[18] Surveillance videos show how two gangs of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Juárez Cartel stormed the prison with assault rifles.^[19]

On 19 February 2012, in the city of Apodaca, Nuevo León, 44 were killed and 12 were injured in a prison riot; the brawl was, according to local authorities, between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, their former allies.^[20] In the state of Durango, 19 inmates were killed in the prison of Gómez Palacio on 25 August 2009;^[21] in the same prison on 21 January 2010, about 23 inmates were killed in a brawl.^[22] On 19 May 2011, a shooting inside a prison in Durango left 8 prisoners dead,^[23] and on 15 November 2010 a group of gunmen threw a grenade inside the prison.^[24] In Tijuana, Baja California on 18 September 2008, nearly 19 inmates were killed in a brawl between rival drug cartel members.^[25]

In Mazatlán, Sinaloa on 14 June 2010, a group of gunmen entered a prison, killed the guard, then entered a cell and massacred 29 people.^[26]

References

1. Klerigan, Efrain (4 January 2012). "Mexico Prison Fight: 31 Killed in Altamira". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
2. (in Spanish) "Pelea entre presos deja 31 muertos en México". BBC News. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
3. "31 killed in Mexican prison fight between rival drug gangs". The Global Post. 5 January 2012. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
4. (in Spanish) "Riña en penal de Altamira, Tamaulipas, deja 31 muertos". Televisa. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
5. (in Spanish) "Confirman 31 internos muertos en penal de Altamira". Terra Networks. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
6. (in Spanish) "Batalla en penal de Altamira deja 31 muertos y 13 heridos". Milenio. 5 January 2012. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
7. (in Spanish and English) "Palabras de la Portavoz de la Sra. Navi Pillay, Alta Comisionada de la ONU-DH sobre los hechos del pasado domingo en el reclusorio de Apodaca Nuevo León" (PDF). El Universal. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
8. (in Spanish) "COMUNICADO DE LA SECRETARIA DE SEGURIDAD PÚBLICA DEL ESTADO". Gobierno del Estado de Tamaulipas, México. 4 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
9. "31 internos muertos y 13 heridos tras una riña en el reclusorio de Altamira". La Jornada. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
10. Chapa, Sergio (15 October 2011). "20 inmates killed, 12 wounded in Matamoros prison brawl". Valley Central. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
11. "Prison riot in Matamoros kills 20; shootouts reported in Reynosa". The Monitor. 16 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
12. Chapa, Sergio (8 August 2010). "14 prisoners killed in Matamoros prison brawl". Valley Central. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
13. (in Spanish) Pérez González, Jorge (22 February 2009). "Mentes perversas". Hoy Tamaulipas. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
14. Vindell, Tony (24 January 1996). "El Profe welcomes Garcia Abrego's downfall". The Brownsville Herald. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
15. Althaus, Dudley (2009). "Texas-Mexico Borderlands: The Slide Toward Chaos" (PDF). The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education. 12 (10974911): 57. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
16. "Mexico jail riot 'leaves 21 dead'". BBC News. 20 October 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
17. "Mexico prison shooting: 17 dead in Ciudad Juarez clash". BBC News. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
18. "Many killed in Mexico prison violence". Al Jazeera. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
19. (in Spanish) "Al menos 17 personas mueren durante un motín en una prisión de Juárez". CNNMexico. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
20. "Monterrey prison riot covers mass escape by gang members". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
21. (in Spanish) "Riña en el penal de Gómez Palacio; 19 muertos". La Jornada. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
22. (in Spanish) "Riña en penal de Durango deja 23 muertos; no descartan ejecuciones". La Jornada. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
23. (in Spanish) "Una balacera en un penal de Durango deja ocho reos muertos y 11 heridos". CNNMexico. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
24. (in Spanish) "Un grupo de hombres ataca con granada a penal de Durango". CNNMexico. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
25. (in Spanish) "Confirman 19 muertos por motín en cárcel de Tijuana". El Universal. 18 September 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
26. (in Spanish) "Suman 29 los reos muertos por violencia en el penal de Mazatlán". CNNMexico. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2012.

See also

• 2011–2012 in the Mexican Drug War
• Apodaca prison riot
• Mexican Drug War
• Timeline of the Mexican Drug War