“Char” for Borderland Beat 

This was translated and reposted EL SOL DE DURANGO 

It was considered the most spectacular escape in history; around 25 bullet impacts were seen in the windows of the prison’s lobby.

Perla Rodríguez Contreras | El Sol de Durango

“18 inmates escaped,” reads the front page of El Sol de Durango of Tuesday, November 1, 1983, where it was reported that after a large shootout in the courtyards of the main exit of the Social Rehabilitation Center (Cereso) of the capital of Durango, a massive escape was registered in which Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a capo of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, fled.

The event that made headlines at the time left one person dead -the guard identified as Pedro Hernández Trejo-, two seriously injured -Gabriel González Rivas and Virgilio García García- and 18 inmates at liberty, while the lives of three hostages were in the balance.

“It was approximately 11:10 a.m. when a group of 19 inmates led by José Coronel Herrera and Santiago Leal Coronel, with pistol in hand, immobilized the person in charge of the door that leads to the locker room and managed to get out and then started a shooting from the lobby towards the guards at the exit door, while from outside they also shot other individuals who were in a pickup truck. Apparently they were Víctor Coronel García and former prefect Herminio Hernández Francisca, the latter with a submachine gun,” reads the article published on November 1 and written by Gabriel Ontiveros Barrera.

Then, after killing the guard, the inmates left the place and to counteract the resistance of the guards they took hostage the deputy director, Jose Luis de la Rosa Simental, the deputy head of surveillance, Silvestre Alvarado, and the social worker, Elisa Gonzalez.

De la Rosa, who was threatened with a gun to his head, came out with his hand raised and shouted for them to throw it away, as he was followed by one of the Coronel and other inmates, who threatened the other two hostages with firearms and a tip.

“When the 18 inmates had gone through the main gate, they proceeded to rob Everarda Pruneda, who had just arrived at the parking lot, of her vehicle, and she tried to prevent the robbery of her orange Caribe car, but she was caught and forced to hand over the keys”.

Other people were also stripped of their vehicles, so that when they had several units they started to flee, but they were scattered all over the highways, being in the vicinity of the Gas Elsa plant where they were able to free themselves from their captors, De la Rosa and the deputy chief of Surveillance. This after the driver overturned because he did not have the necessary driving skills. “Then the fugitives fled on foot towards the 20 de Noviembre neighborhood”.

The authorities immediately made a statement regarding this massive escape, and released the list of those who managed to flee, specifying for what crime they were being held.

José Coronel Herrera | Assault, rape and resistance to private individuals

Manuel Cabrera Sarabia | Crimes against Health

Santiago Leal Coronel | Crimes against Health

Jesús Jiménez López | Health crimes

Santiago Leal Siqueiros | Double homicide and assault

Raúl Cárdenas Torres | cattle rustling (theft or robbery of livestock and domestic animals)

Pedro Sarabia Cabrera | Robbery

Gabriel Salazar Mariscal | Health Crimes

Marcos Arturo Beltran Leyva : Crimes against Health***********

Sabino Soto Díaz | Triple homicide

Martín Zúñiga Barrera : Drug Trafficking

Bibiano Ortiz Sanchez | Drug Trafficking

Emilio Guzmán Loera : Drug Trafficking

José Rivas Vizcarra | Drug Trafficking

Loreto Rivas Vizcarra : Drug Trafficking

José Ángel Ruiz | Homicide

Juan Nepomuceno | Double Homicide, Assault, Robbery (Totaled three escapes)

Emilio Molina Espinoza | Homicide and injuries (was in the Islas Marías)

Francisco Javier Velazco Salinas | Appeared on the list of escapees, but it was proven that he returned from the lobby.

When fleeing, they took some weapons with them, among which were those of the guard they murdered; there were three 30-M 1 carbines and four musketeers, in addition to the pistols they were carrying.

The progress of the investigations at the time indicated that seven of the escapees had been in the Canatlan mountains, near the town of Nogales, where they abandoned one of the vans they had stolen at the time of their escape.

It was that day when, in the midst of uncertainty and nervous shock, the deputy director, José Luis de la Rosa Simental, told El Sol de Durango about the threats he received, since the plan was to try to kill them when the inmates were safe and when they no longer needed hostages.

The then director of the Cereso, Peña Vicario, said that Herminio Hernandez Francisca is one of the authors of the plan, since everything suggests that he was discharged just on October 19, apparently when everything was already planned to carry out the most spectacular escape in the history of the Rehabilitation Center; and there were around 25 bullet impacts in the windows of the Cereso’s vestibule.

Source: EL SOL DE DURANGO 

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