– Knight Ridder Newspapers

MEXICO CITY – Hundreds of police and army soldiers in tanks surrounded the maximum-security prison of La Palma on Friday to prevent the killing or escape of Mexico’s top criminals, including drug traffickers wanted in the United States, authorities said.

TV images showed tanks with heavily armed soldiers spread out around the perimeter of the prison west of Mexico City, along with a series of checkpoints for anyone approaching it.

Visiting family members of some inmates complained about the suspension of visiting hours and fear of violence. But police said the operation had gone down without incident.

The early morning raid locked down a legendarily tough prison whose reputation had been tainted by two recent killings – one on New Year’s Eve – related to a fierce feud among reputed drug traffickers.

In addition, media reports have suggested that authorities were losing control of the federal facility to drug kingpins, who could have been planning more killings or a commando-style raid to free themselves.

The federal Public Security Ministry said 750 police and soldiers were sent to La Palma on Friday “after authorities there declared a state of emergency for the serious risks posed to the physical integrity of some inmates and a possible escape attempt.”

The operation would continue, authorities said, until maximum-security conditions at the prison had been re-established.

La Palma’s most famous inmates include reputed drug lords Osiel Cardenas of the Gulf Cartel and Benjamin Arellano Felix of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix organization.

The Mexico City newspaper Reforma said court documents show that Cardenas had dozens of fellow inmates at La Palma on his payroll and was using them to destabilize the facility. The reputed drug boss also used lawyers as couriers to communicate with cartel members, the newspaper said.

Federal authorities warned recently that Cardenas and Arellano Felix had banded together to wage a turf war against another drug boss, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Guzman escaped from a different federal prison in 2001 and is wanted by the United States, which is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

La Palma was inaugurated in 1991 to serve as a model prison for Mexico’s toughest inmates, who often use bribes at lesser institutions to procure cozy living arrangements or to escape.

La Palma inmates have complained about conditions like round-the-clock lighting, limited visiting hours, and bitter cold during the winter. Otherwise, there have been few incidents at the facility over the years.

But in October, Miguel Angel Beltran Lugo, who reputedly worked for Guzman, was shot to death in an eating area of the prison.

On Dec. 31, Guzman’s brother, Arturo Guzman, was also shot to death inside La Palma as he talked to a lawyer.

Federal prison officials have been fired or forced to step down as a result, and investigations are under way to determine how inmates obtained the firearms used in the killings.

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(c) 2005, The Dallas Morning News.

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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-01-14-05 1818EST

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