It’s common knowledge that Colombian jails are among the most crowded and violent in Latin America. They accommodate everyone from street thieves to violent leftist guerrillas and tragedies inside their walls are an everyday occurrence. One of the most dangerous prisons in the world is the La Modelo jail in the capital city of Bogota. This week Reuters reported that the dismembered remains of at least 100 prisoners and visitors have been found stuffed inside the prison’s drain pipes.
It appears as if word leaked that bodies were being stuffed inside the pipes at La Modelo, which houses drug traffickers, Marxist rebels and paramilitaries. Investigators searched the pipes, and the pipes of jails in the cities of Popayan, Bucaramanga and Barranquilla, and found the butchered remains of scores of murdered prisoners. Caterina Heyck, an investigator at the attorney general’s office, told reporters:
“Remains of prisoners, visitors and others were thrown in the drainage system. The number of victims is unknown, but we know it’s over 100 and could be considerably higher.”
