Twenty-three inmates escaped and one guard was killed after armed men stormed a prison in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta, which has been under siege by cartel members since drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” was killed in a military operation.
The attackers opened fire on the facility and busted in the Centro Integral de Justicia Regional on Sunday by crashing a vehicle through the gate, Mexican officials confirmed.
The break-in sparked a riot inside of the prison, complicating a security response to the escape, and a guard was killed in the violence, according to Vallarta Daily. Reinforcements were called for outside the region but road conditions hindered their response.
By Monday, state officials said a head count revealed that 23 men had escaped. A manhunt is now underway for the escapees.
Officials said order had been restored and the prison was operating again under reinforced security as authorities investigated the incident.
The prison break comes as at least 73 people have died in widespread violence that erupted in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states after the Mexican military took out El Mencho, the powerful boss of the notorious Jalisco New Generation cartel Sunday.
The deaths include 25 members of the Mexican National Guard who were killed in six separate attacks.
Tourists in Puerto Vallarta — a popular Pacific beach getaway in Jalisco, the cartel’s stronghold — were warned to stay indoors as narco gangs went on a rampage, setting fires and marching through the streets with guns.
Some 10,000 Mexican soldiers have been deployed throughout the country in response.
The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel, which began operating in 2009, is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico.
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