Police find bar for inmates at prison in Mexico

Police find bar for inmates at prison in Mexico

Police have discovered a bar at prison in northern Mexico that served beer, tequila and vodka to inmates.

Security at Mexican state prisons is notoriously lax Photo: EPA

A spokesman for Chihuahua state's prosecutor for prisons says the deputy director of the prison where the bar was discovered has been fired. Spokesman Jorge Chaires said on Wednesday that guards at the low-security prison are under investigation.

The bar was discovered on Monday at the prison in Chihuahua city, the state capital. Federal police and state authorities confiscated 200 beer cans, 12 bottles of tequila and 20 bottles of vodka. The bar also had a billiard table.

Also on Wednesday, guards conducting a routine check at a prison in the northern state of Tamaulipas discovered 17 inmates missing, the state's Public Safety Department said in a statement. The prison is located in Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas.

Authorities later found a tunnel leading out of the prison from the laundry room, the statement said. The prison's director and eight guards were being questioned.

Security at Mexican state prisons is notoriously lax. Jailbreaks are common, inmates are often found to be directing criminal operations from behind bars, and corrupt guards are often found to be involved.