Rioting Guatemalan
Prisoners Behead Deputy
Rioting Guatemalan
prisoners have beheaded
a senior prison
official, reports from
Guatemala City on Friday
said.
The deputy, Jorge
Augusto Mendoza, was
beheaded by rioters
shortly before midnight
Thursday in
Chimaltenango prison,
some 50 km west of the
capital Guatemala City.
Angry prisoners also
gouged out Mendoza's
eyes and cut off his
arms, said Penitentiary
System spokesperson Nery
Morales, adding that the
director of the prison
and three guards were
injured.
Police regained control
of the prison Friday,
Morales added.
He said the riot began
after two women were
caught trying to smuggle
drugs into the prison
during visiting hours,
while the inmates said
it was a reaction to
guard brutality.
The inmates belong to
the street gang Mara 18,
regarded as the most
violent group in Central
America. The prison
holds more than 60 gang
members, 33 of whom have
already been condemned
for various crimes,
including kidnapping and
murder.
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