Enlarge image
Prison in Paraguay (icon image)
Photo: Marciano Candia/ AP
On Tuesday evening around 9 p.m. local time, chaos broke out in the regional prison of the city of Concepción in central Paraguay: According to the authorities, members of the Brazilian crime syndicate Primero Comando da Capital (PCC) tried to escape from the prison.
In the meantime, they took up to 14 judicial officers hostage.
According to prosecutors, an inmate used the confusing situation during the uprising to kill a personal rival: the 26-year-old was shot in the chest, police chief Vidal Galeano said on ABC radio on Wednesday.
The dead man's brother, who was also in prison, and three judicial officers were injured.
It is unclear how the attacker was able to get hold of the murder weapon in the detention center.
Syndicates control the prison
137 members of the PCC are being held in Concepción prison.
The organization is originally from Brazil.
Here the »First Command of the Capital« controls the drug trade.
The members are mainly recruited from the favelas of the metropolis São Paulo.
In early 2020, 75 gang members managed to escape from another Paraguayan prison.
Many Brazilian gangs are active in Paraguay.
The country is considered one of the largest marijuana producers in Latin America.
Most of the drug is smuggled into neighboring countries like Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
Bloody prisoner mutinies occur time and again in Latin America.
The prisons are often overcrowded.
In addition, many prisons are controlled by crime syndicates.
ala/dpa
