Cereso prison officials discover escape tunnel

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 03/30/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

Inmates at Juárez's Cereso prison apparently dug an escape tunnel and were only 10 yards from freedom when the tunnel was discovered Wednesday, prison officials said.

The tunnel was well-made, officials said, with wooden and concrete beams, a fan and electric lights. It measured more than 1 yard in height and 5 yards in length. It stretched between the interior fence and the outside wall of the prison.

Fernando Alberto Romero Magaña, who has been director of the Cereso for a month, said the prison was under red alert since the discovery.

He said that a cache of weapons was found near the tunnel and that it wasn't known whether the inmates planned "a riot, an execution or a mass escape."

The tunnel and the weapons were in an area housing members of the Mexicles prison gang.

A year ago, six Mexicles gang members were stabbed to death in a large riot instigated by the rival Aztecas gang. Prison guards were later arrested for providing Aztecas gang members with knives, helmets and shields and access to the Mexicles' segregated living quarters.