Riot in Juárez results in at least 17 deaths and 27 escaped inmates

A prison riot in Ciudad de Juárez, Mexico left at least 17 dead and 27 prisoners escaped. It all started at 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, Jan. 1. According to the Attorney General's Office of the state of Chihuahua, "an armed group aboard between three and six vans" appeared at the gates of the State Social Reinsertion Center No. 3.

The occupants of the vehicles opened fire on the security forces that were protecting the prison and, in doing so, unleashed chaos inside the facility, Europa Press claims. In this moment, several prisoners took advantage of the situation to escape.

Sinaloa Cartel

The alleged objective of the attack was to free Ernesto "N," alias "El Neto" and César "N," alias "Chilín." According to Infobae, both could be members of the criminal group "Los Mexicles," which works for the Sinaloa Cartel, and both managed to escape during the riot.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, 27 prisoners managed to escape from the prison and ten inmates ended up with injuries of varying degrees of severity. Seven other prisoners, however, lost their lives. This figure is in addition to the 10 state officials who also died as a result of the riot.

Two more attacks in Ciudad de Juárez

The event was not isolated. Authorities also assured that, minutes before the riot took place, local police were facing another assault. In that case, armed individuals attacked them, and local police began a chase that resulted in the arrest of four men traveling in a Ford Expedition pickup truck. There is no suspected link between the two incidents.

Hours later, police forces also had to repel another attack in the streets of Ciudad de Juárez. Two armed men aboard a Hummer attacked police and were killed minutes later.