Topo Chico (prison)

Topo Chico
Coordinates 25°43′30″N 100°20′44″W / 25.72500°N 100.34556°W / 25.72500; -100.34556Coordinates: 25°43′30″N 100°20′44″W / 25.72500°N 100.34556°W / 25.72500; -100.34556
Status Operational
Capacity 3,685[1]
Population 4,091[1] (as of September 2015)
Managed by Secretariat of Public Security
Director Gregoria Salazar Robles[2]
City Monterrey
State Nuevo León
Country Mexico
Notable prisoners
Jorge Lankenau

Topo Chico is a prison located in Monterrey, northern Mexico, close to Penitenciaría metro station (Spanish for penitentiary).

The prison is an establishment of the Federal Government of Mexico and is administered by the Secretariat of Public Security (Spanish: Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, SSP). The director of the prison is Gregoria Salazar Robles, appointed 12 March 2012.[2]

As of September 2015 the prison was overcrowded with a capacity for 3,685 inmates but a population of 4,091.[1] The infrastructure in poor condition with generally no water, light or ventilation in the cells according to a 2014 report by United Nations Special Rapporteur Juan E. Méndez.[3]

Incidents

In 2011 police found the dismembered body of prison security chief Francisco Martinez Ramirez in a plastic box inside a car abandoned near Topo Chico.[4]

On 21 February 2012, 3 inmates were stabbed to death in targeted attacks at the prison.[5]

On 11 February 2016, 49 inmates were killed and 12 injured following a fight between two rival gangs at Topo Chico[6] in which inmates set fires affecting two of the prison's units.[7] Governor of Nuevo León state Jaime Rodríguez Calderón told journalists that one of the factions involved in the violence was led by a leader of the Zetas Cartel, and the leader of the other group was identified by Mexican media as a leader of the Gulf Cartel.[8]

References


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