Warden fired, violence continues, 'VIP' cells discovered after Juárez prison breakout

• Warden and prison staff under investigation after prison break
• Juárez remains on edge, U.S. Consulate cancels appointments
• Mexicles gang has lengthy, violent border history

A prison warden was fired and is under investigation after luxury "VIP" cells with liquor, drugs and parties were discovered following a deadly New Year's Day breakout at the Cereso No. 3 in Juárez, state authorities said.

The state of Chihuahua said that warden Alejandro Alvarado Tellez and other prison staff are under investigation regarding the breakout, riot and drug and firearms contraband discovered in the facility.

In August, Alvarado Tellez was brought in to replace the previous warden after a prison gang brawl left three inmates dead and sparked a wave of "narcoterrorism" on Juárez streets in a day known as "Black Thursday."

The Chihuahua state attorney general's office said that 17 people (10 guards and security officers, along with seven prisoners) were killed in the prison breakout and riot.

Juárez remained on edge Tuesday after a series of street gunbattles as police continue to hunt for 25 prisoners who escaped during an all-out assault on the prison on New Year's Day morning on Sunday.

The U.S. Consulate in Juárez canceled all public appointments on Tuesday after instructing staff to temporarily shelter in place on Monday night as a precaution due to "reports of gunfire occurring in more than one location" in the border city.

Two Chihuahua state police officers and five armed men were killed in confrontations Monday night as part of a bloody start to 2023 with more than two dozen deaths tied to the prison break and attacks on law enforcement.

The main target for police forces is Ernesto Alfredo Piñon de la Cruz, 33, known as "El Neto," the eye patch-wearing reputed leader of the Mexicles gang who escaped while serving a more than 200-year sentence on kidnapping and homicide cases.

On Tuesday, authorities in response to the breakout reportedly began transferring some 200 gang members from the Cereso to other prisons.

Assault on Cereso No. 3

The breakout was a well-planned assault involving bulletproof vehicles, rifles and even a grenade launcher on the state-run prison holding about 3,900 inmates, top members of Mexico's Security Cabinet said Monday at a news conference in Mexico City.

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said the attack started about 6:30 a.m. Sunday when a white Hummer H2 pulled up and a guard was killed at a checkpoint at the prison entrance. The Hummer fled and two men inside were killed in a confrontation with police after a vehicle chase, he said.

The checkpoint attack is believed to have been a diversion for a planned riot that erupted inside the prison, said Sandoval, a Mexican army general. Prison guards and a reaction team responding to the riot were attacked by inmates armed with firearms.

Authorities are trying to determine how the weapons used by prisoners were smuggled into the facility. Sandoval explained that of 10 rifles found by responding forces, only three belonged to the guards.

Municipal police initially did not enter the prison as the riot unfolded, Sandoval said. The National Guard backed by army troops and state police entered at about 10 a.m. and by noon had taken control of the facility as worried family members of inmates and staff gathered outside.

The prison's electrical system and gas lines were damaged during the rioting, causing delays as authorities tried to regain control of the facility, state officials added.

Aerial photos showed crowds of men in gray prison-issued sweatsuits forced to sit with their hands on their heads in the prison yards while surrounded by soldiers or state police as they regained control.

The Chihuahua Attorney General's Office initially reported that at least 24 inmates had escaped. The number was later increased to 27, but Mexican federal authorities later determined there were actually 25 escapees after it was learned that two died.

Drugs, cash and 'VIP' prison cells

Soldiers and state police who retook control of the prison found what Sandoval described as 10 nicely decorated “VIP” cells outfitted with televisions and other comforts. Sandoval said one cell contained a safe with more than 1.7 million pesos, worth $87,613.

Inside the prison, the military also found a wealth of contraband, including 84 cellphones, 285 bags of crystal methamphetamine (with a total of nearly 9 pounds of crystal meth), along with hundreds of packets of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and eight fentanyl pills.

Who is 'El Neto'? Who are the Mexicles?

Questions have arisen over how the prison was run and whether gangs were the ones actually in charge.

A short 13-second video clip published Monday by the Diario de Juárez newspaper showed Piñon de la Cruz, in street clothes instead of prison grays, next to a singer as music plays while celebrating "el día Mexicle," or Mexicle Day. An ice chest and a plasma-screen TV are visible in the background at the prison.

The Mexicles is a prison street gang formed by Mexican citizens in the Texas prison system who banded together to protect themselves in the late 1980s. Members of the gang were deported and established themselves in Juárez as rivals to the Barrio Azteca gang.

The Mexicles gang has been known to use tattoos of the "Hecho en Mexico" eagle logo; similar tattoos also are used as a display of Mexican heritage by people who aren't gang members.

The Mexicles were accused in the August prison brawl and "Black Thursday" attacks last summer and in the torching of buses and businesses and attacks on police in the "Night of Revenge" in November 2019.

Mexican officials said the "Night of Revenge" outbreak of violence and arson in Juárez was ordered by the Mexicles in an attempt to prevent a major law enforcement search planned for Cereso No. 3.

The gang's reputed leader, "El Neto" Piñon de la Cruz, has a lengthy criminal record. He entered the Cereso in 2017. He was convicted of leading a violent kidnapping ring that targeted Juárez business owners in nearly 39 abductions between 2008 and 2010, according to El Paso Times archives.

Victims included the general manager of a Toshiba factory, a victim shot four times who died after being released and a high school student whose finger was cut off.

Piñon de la Cruz's reputed second-in-command Cesar Vega-Muñoz, also known as "El Chilin," who initially was rumored to have been one of the escapees, died in the breakout.

In 2010, Mexican officials said Piñon de la Cruz was injured and Vega-Muñoz escaped from a Cereso prison van during a violent ambush in December 2010 while being transported from the prison to a court appearance, according to archives.

In 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deported Vega-Muñoz and handed him to Mexican authorities after he was arrested working at a Church's chicken restaurant in Socorro, a suburb of El Paso.

The Mexicles were allied with the Sinaloa drug cartel during the war with the Juárez drug cartel a decade ago. On Monday, Mexico's defense secretary said that the gang is now allies of the Caborca cartel, based in Sonora and Chihuahua states and reputedly headed by old-time drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was captured last summer.