MEXICO CITY — A deadly riot erupted during family visiting hours on Thursday at a prison in Sinaloa, a violence-weary state in northwestern Mexico, authorities reported.
The violence unfolded Thursday morning at the El Castillo Penitentiary in Mazatlan, a key port city in Sinaloa.
According to Sinaloa’s Public Security Secretariat, nine inmates and one family member were killed, while 16 others sustained injuries requiring medical treatment. Local reports indicate participants used firearms during the altercation.
The precise cause of death has not yet been disclosed by authorities.
In the aftermath, army, National Guard, naval and state security forces were deployed to the facility to restore order. Mexico’s federal security cabinet confirmed the facility is now under control, noting it houses approximately 1,800 inmates.
Analysts link persistent overcrowding—exacerbated by widespread use of pre-trial detention and staffing shortages—to a culture of corruption and violence within correctional facilities. A similar riot in Culiacan, Sinaloa’s capital, last May resulted in seven inmate deaths and one injury.
Mexico operates 276 penal institutions, comprising 14 federal penitentiaries and 249 state-run prisons. Official data from February placed the total inmate population at 261,388.
Sinaloa has been gripped by violence since September 2024, following an internal cartel rift pitting the sons of former drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—known as “Los Chapitos”—against supporters of detained leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The latest unrest unfolds against a backdrop of intensified federal pressure on Mexican authorities to strengthen cartel enforcement.
