A deadly prison riot at the Social Reintegration Center in Tuxpan, Veracruz state, Mexico, left seven inmates dead and 11 others injured following violent unrest that began Saturday afternoon, August 2, and continued through the night.
The violence erupted when inmates began setting fires and creating disturbances that endangered the broader prison population. State security forces, working alongside the Mexican Navy, Army, and National Guard, conducted a coordinated operation to regain control of the facility by Sunday morning, around 9 a.m.
“As a result of the riot, we report the tragic deaths of seven inmates and 11 injured people,” the Veracruz state security ministry stated in an official release. The injured inmates were transported to local hospitals for medical treatment, though their current conditions remain undisclosed.
Videos circulating on social media showed columns of smoke rising from the prison facility during the height of the disturbance, with footage revealing inmates suffering from burns. The fires that spread throughout sections of the prison were eventually extinguished once authorities restored order.
According to inmate-recorded videos that emerged during the riot, the unrest began as prisoners rebelled against the criminal organization known as Grupo Sombra, which inmates alleged was extorting prisoners and their families within the facility. The inmates had reportedly requested that authorities guarantee their safety and allow human rights activists and media representatives inside the prison to document the alleged abuse.
Grupo Sombra, a criminal organization that first gained public attention in 2017, considers itself a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel. The group operates in Veracruz state and claims to engage in community work while fighting rival cartels, including Los Zetas and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. In their initial public appearance, masked members distributed frozen turkeys and soda to residents during Christmas 2017, forcing recipients to pose for photographs showing gratitude.
The Tuxpan prison housed 778 inmates as of June, exceeding its designed capacity of 735 prisoners. This overcrowding reflects broader challenges facing Mexico’s correctional system, where conflicts between cartels and organized crime groups frequently spill into prison populations.
Following the riot’s conclusion, three inmates identified as key instigators were transferred to another facility within Veracruz state. Authorities did not provide additional details about these transfers or specify which facility received the relocated prisoners.
The incident occurred amid rising violence throughout Veracruz state, which has experienced increased extortion and criminal activity in recent months.
This riot follows a pattern of prison violence across Mexico, where a 2012 human rights commission report found that six out of 10 Mexican prisons are controlled by either prison gangs or drug cartels. Last month, a separate prison riot in the northwestern state of Sinaloa resulted in three inmate deaths, highlighting the ongoing security challenges within Mexico’s correctional facilities.
Mexican prisons continue struggling with overcrowding, corruption, and the influence of organized crime groups that replicate their territorial conflicts within correctional facilities.