The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY- A gunbattle between rival gangs in an overcrowded western Mexico penitentiary injured eight inmates, authorities said Saturday.
The shooting started Friday evening as prisoners’ relatives and friends were leaving the Venustiano Carranza correction facility in Tepic, the capital of the western state of Nayarit, at the end of visiting hours, state officials said.
Cora Cecilia Pinedo, Nayarit’s interior secretary, told reporters that the confrontation was between two gangs grappling for control of the drugs, weapons and other contraband bought and sold inside the prison.
Pinedo said that authorities were investigating how inmates obtained the weapons.
Built to house 700 inmates, Venustiano Carranza holds almost 2,000, making it difficult for prison authorities to control gangs that operate inside.