Riot in Cereso de Colima: Prosecutor's Office identified almost all those responsible

The Attorney General's Office of the State of Colima reported that virtually all those suspected of the riot that occurred on January 25 at the entity's Social Reintegration Center (Cereso) were identified.

It was revealed that the Public Prosecutor's Office will prosecute the cases one by one to make the strategy more effective, so it was stated that there will be “forcefulness” against the characters fully identified by images and other evidence presented throughout the process.

“We will prosecute one by one of the cases, that is, we will first seek to prosecute criminal cases against the alleged perpetrators of a victim; when we move forward in the prosecution of this case, we will move on to the alleged perpetrators of the next one, until we conclude with the 9 processes to have order in litigating these cases before a court, we can strongly assure that all those suspected of 3 homicides and 2 attempted homicides are fully identified by images and other elements,” said the officials.

It was on March 22 that the authorities held this press conference to publicize the progress made so far in the lines of investigation of the recorded events, including nine homicides and eight other attempted cases.

Similarly, they said, there are elements to confirm that at least 10 people participated actively; all were identified inside Cereso, where they are being prosecuted and sentenced for federal crimes.

When questioned regarding firearms entered the premises, Prosecutor Bryant Alejandro García Ramirez said the situation is being investigated to determine if there are any people within the institution who are involved in infiltrating such objects.

He stressed that in subsequent operations five weapons were secured: two 40 caliber, one that is 380 and two of 09 millimeters, one of them dropped from the outskirts of this Centre. In addition, he explained that the Office of the Attorney General of the State opened an investigation folder that incorporates the following evidence:

- 40 interviews collected with victims of the events, all of them deprived of their liberty; witnesses and security and custody personnel of Cereso.

- 38 expert opinions in various specialties, such as field criminology, ballistics, forensic chemistry, lophoscopy, genetics and forensic medicine.

- 14 reports submitted by the Cereso authority.

- 7 reports submitted by institutions in the health sector, including the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the Regional University Hospital (HRU).

- 13 reports from the Investigating Police.

- Inspection of 43 graphic video folders of the cameras located in Cereso.

Finally, the media questioned him about the shooting that took place on Monday, March 21, in which about 100 police officers from Colima took part in confronting against armed civilians near the center of the state capital.

The Director of the Investigating Police, Fernando Vega, commented that a report of gunfire was received, which was attended by elements of the Prosecutor's Office, who entered a building and arrested a person, in addition to securing weapons and a bulletproof helmet.

According to the first reports, alleged hit men attacked public security elements and subsequently barricaded themselves in an entity home, from which they fired their large-caliber weapons against the uniformed.

It all happened in Barrio España in the city of Colima, where the attackers reported the presence of a sniper, who allegedly assaulted more than 10 policemen, one of whom resulted in injuries.

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