Here's how members of famous gangs live in prison in Honduras
Recently, the Honduran authorities conducted a mass relocation of members of well-known criminal groups in the country to a new high-security prison. The shocked media published photos of the cells abandoned by the criminals: they look little like ordinary places of detention — rather, they resemble small cozy apartments. Look at the conditions in which members of famous gangs lived carelessly.
Last week, 773 prisoners were transferred from the old overcrowded San Pedro Sule prison in the town of Tamara near Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, to the new El Pozo 2 prison in the town of La Tova, in the department of El Paraiso. It is difficult to call the rooms abandoned by the prisoners cells… How do you like this 52-inch plasma?
This is the kind of prison comfort that the members of the famous M-13 gang have created for themselves.
The cells had furniture and all necessary household appliances: air conditioning, a mixer, a coffee machine, a refrigerator with food and much more.
In their free time, the prisoners organized video game tournaments — for example, they played FIFA and GTA.
The prison had a specially equipped room for visits: with a large mirror, dim lighting and a huge bed. This room was called "Kama Sutra" by the locals. During the reception hours, prisoners had intimate meetings with their wives and girlfriends here. But only the most privileged gang members could use such a recreation room.
All the prisoners in this prison are members of well-known criminal gangs of Honduras: Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, competing with each other. The transportation of prisoners was accompanied by police officers under the leadership of Honduran President Juan Orlando. In the photo: a mirror in a frame in the shape of the number 18 (the sign of the Barrio 18 gang) and portraits of the deceased leaders of the group.
The crime rate in Honduras is the highest among Central American countries. More than 17 thousand people are held in 30 Honduran prisons, where riots and escapes often occur, and prisoners live by their own rules.
After being transferred to a new prison, the sweet life for prisoners will end (at least for a while). The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando, said in this regard: "We will continue to prevent prisons from turning into centers for the organization and preparation of all types of criminal acts. The transfer of those who were held in San Pedro Sula testifies to the birth of a new reality."
MS-13 is the oldest of the Latin American gangs, its number is more than 20 thousand people. It appeared in Los Angeles two decades ago, when migrants from El Salvador poured into the States en masse, where a brutal civil war broke out that claimed the lives of 100 thousand people. Now MS-13 is a world-famous grouping with a complex branched structure. She is involved in various types of criminal business, her fighters are extremely cruel and try in every way to intimidate enemies or authorities. A distinctive feature of the MS-13 gang: during torture and murder, they often use machetes.
Keywords: Honduras | Prisoners | Criminals | Crime | Prison | Conditions