Gang members at prison operated call center and monitored crocodile-filled lake, Guatemala officials say

[Judi Lynn]

Updated on: June 3, 2024 / 8:50 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Gang members at prison operated call center and monitored crocodile-filled lake, Guatemala officials say
Updated on: June 3, 2024 / 8:50 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Guatemalan police on Sunday transferred more than 200 gang members from a prison where they operated a call center for criminal purposes, raised chickens and looked out on a crocodile-filled lake.

Some 400 police were involved in the operation to move 225 members of the Barrio 18 gang out of the prison nicknamed "El Infiernito" or Little Hell, where they enjoyed access to such luxuries as TV sets and fridges, even raising chickens, officials said.

"The prison once again belongs to the country," Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez announced on social media.

He vowed the facility would be stripped down and rebuilt as a "real maximum security prison," writing on social media: "These are prisons, NOT holidays."

In a previous search, police had disabled a makeshift "call center" from where the gangsters had committed extortion and ordered crimes to be committed.

More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guatemala-prison-gang-members-call-center-crocodiles/


~ ~ ~

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey-dovey
I ain't got time for that now

[marble falls]

1. Give them nothing constructive to do and they will find something to do. I'd have no problem with them raising ...

... chickens to feed themselves or even market. Or farm crocodiles. But by all means, follow the US model. It's working out so well.