A large-scale prison breakout took place in the beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, where a group of cartel gunmen helped break out 23 inmates. The large-scale operation went largely unnoticed earlier this week as Cartel Jalisco New Generation spread terror throughout Mexico following the death of their leader, Ruben Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera.
The prison breakout took place near Puerto Vallarta at the Ixtapa prison facility, revealed the state’s Public Safety Director, Juan Pablo Hernandez. A group of gunmen arrived at the state prison compound, firing shots into the building, leading to a shootout with prison guards. During the attack, prisoners began to riot, which further spread chaos in the facility.
The gunmen used an armored vehicle to ram one of the prison gates, knocking it partially down, which allowed 23 inmates to escape. According to Hernandez, authorities carried out a headcount of the prison and confirmed the identities of the 23 escaped inmates. These include some who are considered “high-risk” individuals. State officials have been coordinating with federal authorities to locate them.
While a large-scale prison breakout should have been headline news in Mexico, the incident went largely unnoticed last Sunday, following the highly publicized death of terrorist leader El Mencho and the chaos unleashed by his cartel in the aftermath, which brought Mexico to a standstill.
As Breitbart Texas reported, almost immediately after Mexican military forces killed El Mencho, his gunmen carried out a series of terrorist attacks in 18 states throughout Mexico. The attacks included carjackings, arsons, and setting up roadblocks. In certain places like Jalisco and Michoacan, cartel gunmen carried out ambush-style attacks targeting Mexican security forces, where gunmen killed a total of 25 members of the country’s National Guard. The chaos unleashed throughout Mexico forced several U.S. airlines to temporarily cancel their flights to Puerto Vallarta and other Mexican cities.
By Tuesday, Mexico’s Embassy in the United States reported that security forces had restored peace and that airlines were flying in and out of Mexico with near-normal service.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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