I love articles like this. It shows the real flavor of what goes on in a lot of small Latin countries. This is one about Guatemala. The Ex-president of the country resides here in Panama and I have had the pleasure of spending a few dinners with him and his family. A beautiful country now run by gangs.
FRAIJANES, Guatemala (Reuters) -- Security forces took over a
Guatemalan prison controlled for more than 10 years by inmates who
produced drugs, lived in spacious homes with luxury goods and even
rented space for stores and restaurants.
I love this part. People want to live inside the prison.
Zepeda earned around $25,000 a month from extortion and drug
trafficking run from inside the prison, police said. His son Samuel
lived illegally inside the prison to help run the crime empire, even
though he was never sent there by a court.
Real Estate development inside.
Inmates also built their own homes in the prison grounds. One
belonging to a Colombian drug trafficker had a Jacuzzi, national prison
director Alejandro Giammattei said.
The two-story wooden house boasted a king-sized bed and was protected by pedigree guard dogs, a witness said.
Read the whole story.