The Wild West Behind Mazatlán’s Prison Walls

A prison is supposed to be where the state takes control. At El Castillo in Mazatlán, violence on October 8 and 9 left 12 people dead, including a two-year-old child who was visiting. Whatever control existed, it was not enough to keep them alive.

The reports reaching Cartel Insider, along with the conversation I’ve had with someone inside El Castillo, leave me asking who is actually in control there. What is being described sounds closer to the Wild West than a place of rehabilitation. Among the most troubling accounts are those concerning the women held inside.

In a handwritten petition addressed to Sinaloa’s prison authorities, women identifying themselves as El Castillo inmates demand the immediate removal of male prisoners from their housing unit. The document says more than 80 women live in the unit and are sharing areas with men, putting their “safety, privacy and dignity” at risk.

The signatories describe fear, uncertainty and concern for their physical and psychological well-being, particularly after the violence of October 8 and 9. They ask for the men to be separated from the women’s unit completely and permanently.

Messages accompanying the petition go further, alleging that state police are sheltering members of La Mayiza, also known as Los Mayos, inside the women’s unit. That accusation is separate from the handwritten complaint, which does not identify the men’s cartel affiliation. The petition itself makes a straightforward demand: remove the men from the women’s living space.

That distinction matters. The women’s safety should not become another argument over which cartel faction deserves sympathy. Whether a woman is awaiting trial or serving a sentence, her dignity should not depend on anyone approving of her past. Nobody has to excuse a crime to oppose abuse.

The problems at El Castillo extend beyond these messages. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission previously documented insufficient security staff, gaps in training and shortages of medication at the prison. These are failures in the basic conditions a prison is supposed to provide. They deserve attention regardless of the accusations being exchanged between rival groups.

Following the killings, federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced that a new prison would be built in Sinaloa with federal funds, on President Claudia Sheinbaum’s instructions. He also announced that El Castillo would be reinforced with National Guard personnel and federal prison officials. El Financiero⁠

A new prison may be needed. But announcing one does not answer what these women say is happening in this one. Their complaint concerns where they are living now and whether they are safe there.

Protecting prisoners threatened by other inmates may require emergency transfers. But protecting one group should not mean exposing another to danger. The prison administration needs to explain whether men were placed in the women’s unit, who authorized it and what safeguards were established.

I expected something different from a woman president. I expected women’s safety and dignity to be a priority, including behind prison walls. These women deserve a direct answer, and I want Claudia Sheinbaum’s government to insist that the authorities responsible for El Castillo provide one.

The women are asking for men to be removed from their housing unit. That request deserves to be examined on its own merits, without turning the women into an afterthought in a dispute between male prisoners.

What chance does rehabilitation have when the immediate concern is staying alive? Arresting people cannot be the whole security strategy. Once the state puts someone behind bars, it is responsible for their safety and treatment there.

When women have to put their names on notebook paper to ask for basic separation and safety, that complaint deserves attention regardless of anybody’s cartel loyalties. If the state wants to restore order in Sinaloa, it should be able to demonstrate it inside its own prisons.