Mexican prison guards let killers out, lent guns

Guards and officials at a prison in northern Mexico allegedly let inmates out, lent them guns and sent them off in official vehicles to carry out drug-related killings, including the massacre of 17 people last week, the Associated Press reported Sunday, quoting prosecutors.

After carrying out the killings, the inmates would return to their cells, the Attorney General's Office said in a revelation that was shocking even for a country wearied by years of drug violence and corruption.

``According to witnesses, the inmates were allowed to leave with authorization of the prison director ... to carry out instructions for revenge attacks using official vehicles and using guards' weapons for executions,'' office spokesman Ricardo Najera was quoted as telling a news conference.

The director of the prison in Gomez Palacio in Durango state and three other officials were placed under a form of house arrest pending further investigation, according to the report. No charges have yet been filed.

Prosecutors said the prison-based hit squad is suspected in three mass shootings, including the July 18 attack on a party in the city of Torreon, which is near Gomez Palacio. In that incident, the report said, gunmen fired indiscriminately into a crowd of mainly young people in a rented hall, killing 17 people, including women.

Police found more than 120 bullet casings at the scene, and Najera said tests matched those casings to four assault rifles assigned to guards at the prison, it said.

‘막장’ 멕시코 교도관 갱단에 총 빌려주고 풀어줘

멕시코 검찰은 중북부 두랑고주의 고메스 말라시오스 교도소 소장과 직원 3명이 수감 중인 마약 갱단원들에게 총기와 차량을 제공하며 교도소를 빠져나갈 수 있도록 도와준 것으로 드러나 가택연금 상태에서 조사를 진행 중이라고 AP 통신이 25일 전했다.

검찰은 교도소를 빠져나온 이 마약 갱단원들이 지난 일 토레온시의 파티장을 습격해 17명을 살해하는 등 3건의 집단 살해사건과 관련이 있다고 덧붙였다.

검찰은 토레온시 파티장에서 수습한 탄피 120개를 분석한 결과 해당 교도소 교도관들에게 지급된 총기의 탄피와 일치하는 것으로 나타났다고 설명했다.