Mexican police have regained control of the Topo Chico jail since the riot last week that left at least 49 inmates dead, and have discovered that there were several luxury items in the facility - including mini-bars, air conditioners, aquariums, and saunas.
The deadly prison standoff broke out on Thursday, allegedly triggered by a power struggle between two rival leaders of the Zetas drug cartel: Ivan Hernandez Cantu, known as "El Credo," and Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, known as "Z-27," Agence France-Presse reports.
While most inmates in Topo Chico stay in cells without water or proper ventilation, the gang leaders had special privileges. Hernandez Cantu's cell had a king-sized bed, luxury bath, and large flat-screen television, according to a statement released by the Nuevo Leon state prosecutor's office. At the time that the violence erupted, there was allegedly even a woman with him.
"All the privileges are over," Cuauhtemoc Antunez, state public safety chief, declared.
Authorities also disassembled 280 food stalls that were operated by inmates, and hundreds of altars to Santa Muerte, a skeleton-like "Death Saint" venerated within Mexico's drug cartels but also by ordinary Mexicans, as the BBC explains.
The prison director, Gregoria Salazar Robles, and her deputy, Jesus Fernando Dominguez Jaramillo, have both been arrested under accusations of failing to reinforce security measures. A guard has also been charged with homicide after fatally shooting an inmate during the skirmish. The rest of the 49 victims were stabbed or beaten by other inmates, using sticks, hammers, and homemade weapons, as reported by the New York Times.
In the past, prison inspectors had criticized the fact that ordinary inmates had to rent space in cells and purchase food at inflated prices from other prisoners, and that those unable to afford to pay for space in cells had to either take turns sleeping or sleep in the hallways.
Located in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, Topo Chico holds convicted criminals as well as people awaiting trial. At the time of the riot, the jail was 35 percent over capacity, holding more than 3,800 inmates within its walls with only 100 guards, the BBC reports. The state government has said that at least 230 inmates have been transferred to other prisons.
