Jailed U.S. Citizens Unharmed in Mexico Prison Riot, Consul Reports

The American consul said Tuesday that U.S. citizens imprisoned at a riot-torn prison where a drug lord remains in partial control are unharmed but worried.

“None of the American citizens were hurt in any way,” U.S. Consul Donald Wells said after entering the prison late Monday to speak with six of the 36 U.S. citizens held at the Tamaulipas state prison.

“They said that they were safe and they had not been involved in the riot or the cause of the incident,” Wells said. “Everyone is worried. They don’t know if the situation will get worse.”

Wells said he was in the administrative offices and spoke with the U.S. prisoners through a screen as they stood in the prison yard.

He said Mexican authorities seemed to be in control and he saw police entering the prison.

Authorities said, however, that Mexican drug lord Oliviero Chavez Araujo and gang members still controlled about 15 cells in the prison after a battle by rival gangs over the drug trade in the prison.

“Looks like things are getting back to normal,” Wells said.

He said security forces have surrounded the prison and visitors were not allowed inside, but otherwise the prison appeared to have returned to normal.

Although Mexican officials have said they were ready to storm the section of the prison controlled by Chavez and an unknown number of gang members, Wells said there was no indication of preparations for an assault.

Four days after the rioting, Mexican authorities had not released a clear account of the situation at the prison.

Canales said Chavez and at least 100 other prisoners were barricaded in a section of the prison. A police spokesman said the prisoners controlled 15 cells.