Tijuana Prison Riot Leaves 1 Dead

A large-scale search for drugs at Tijuana’s sprawling La Mesa Penitentiary erupted into violence and shooting early Saturday, leaving one inmate dead, two injured and four police officers hurt, Mexican authorities said.

The disturbance began at 7 a.m. when inmates started tossing rocks and bottles at about 300 police officers who had entered the prison two hours earlier to conduct an extensive surprise search for drugs, police said.

Authorities said prisoners began their attack after the officers had completed the search, in which they turned up considerable drug contraband. Once confronted with the hostile prisoners, whose number had not been determined, lawmen fired into the air to warn the inmates, according to a statement from the Baja California State Judicial Police.

Order was restored about 20 minutes after the disturbance broke out at the overcrowded facility, which houses approximately 2,300 inmates convicted of a range of crimes, from robbery to murder to drug trafficking, said Capt. Jose Zendejas Martinez of the Tijuana city police.

No prisoners escaped during the rioting, authorities said.

The injured prisoners and police officers were treated and released at area hospitals Saturday, officials said. None of the injuries were said to be life-threatening. Two of the injured officers were hit by bullets, but it was not clear who fired the shots or whether lawmen fired directly at the prisoners, officials said.

The dead man, a federal prisoner identified as Manuel Cisneros Gallo, 23, died of a stab wound, according to police. His assailant was believed to have been another prisoner, said Carlos Peraza, a state police agent in Tijuana. An earlier report indicated that Cisneros had been killed by a bullet.

State authorities were investigating the incident.

According to police, the drug search, conducted by a specially assembled team of approximately 300 federal, state and city lawmen, was triggered by recent comments from former prison jailers who told federal investigators that the sale and distribution of illicit drugs were widespread at the facility.

The walled La Mesa prison, southeast of downtown, has long been regarded as an overcrowded breeding ground for drug trafficking and other crime. As in other Mexican correctional facilities, prisoners with sufficient funds are said to be able to purchase superior food, clothing and other goods, both legal and illicit.