Mexico Marines Capture Escaped Inmates “Sprung” By Cartel As New Recruits
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Mexico’s navy announced Tuesday that marines found nine escaped inmates apparently working for the Zetas drug cartel at a camp believed to be operated by the group near the Gulf port city of Veracruz.
Navy officials said the fugitives had apparently been sprung from prison to work for the Zetas.
The detentions resulted from a series of raids conducted last week that also netted 18 local police officers who also allegedly worked for the Zetas.
Marines acted on a tip about armed men seen in a rural area near Veracruz and detained nine inmates and five other suspects they found hiding there.
At least 32 inmates escaped from three Veracruz prisons on Sept. 19 in what appeared to have been a carefully planned operation. Police had already recaptured 14 of the fugitives, and others were believed to have been killed before last week’s raids.
Veracruz has been the scene of turf battles between the Zetas and other gangs.
Elsewhere in Veracruz, marines arrested a man wearing a police uniform because he was disturbing the peace. The navy said he was a police officer from the city of Mendoza in Veracruz state and allegedly acted as a liaison between the Zetas and corrupt police.
A list in his pocket indicated that local police officers from several towns had received payments of between 2,000 ($144) and 10,000 pesos ($718) per month from the cartel, the navy officials said in a statement.
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