Christmastime was in full gear that gray December afternoon. Thousands of Mexico City residents thronged the narrow street stalls surrounding the sprawling La Merced Market, east of the Zocalo. Many shopped for Christmas present, others for candles and fireworks in honor of the Day of the Virgen of Guadalupe, celebrated every December 12th, which would be the next day.
La Merced market is a huge complex of different markets east of the downtown area in the seedy and notorious La Merced neighborhood. Prostitutes and pickpockets abound. The market is divided into several areas: The Meat market, the vegetable market, the flower market, the herb market and the Ampudia Market, which is mostly candy and toys.
None of the unsuspecting people crowding Ramon Corona Street, next to Ampudia Market, imagined the hellish horror that would be unleashed that day.
Illegal Fireworks are often sold in the city and throughout the country. Though forbidden, fireworks form a part of Mexican life and culture. Illegal or Legal, they are easily found hidden under the candy stalls in Ampudia Market. Stashed in a corner, hidden in the countless boxes and crates that crowd Merced market, people fear them but also turn the other way. Improperly handled, they can unleash a holocaust of death and fire. On December 11th, 1988, tragedy rocked Ampudia Market.
Nobody to this day knows how it started, but a fire broke out at a candy stall on Corona Street. A fire that quickly reached a box of illegal fireworks, which then began to burn and detonate. Dozens of people ran terrified at the sound of the exploding fireworks and gunpowder, which started a flash fire that quickly raced down the stalls, incinerating everything in its path: people, paper, candy and more fireworks.
More fireworks exploded as the screams of the victims burning alive were heard all throught La Merced market. Then came the huge blast.
The fire reached a warehouse in a building in Ampudia Market and exploded. Pounds of gunpowder, used in the making of the fireworks, blew up, killing dozens of people. The fire still raged inside the Ampudia building, spreading to apartments on the upper floors. Dozens were trapped behind the iron roll up doors of the market storerooms where they sought refuge from the fire and explosions. These storerooms proved to be deathtraps as many contained even more fireworks, which then exploded.
Red Cross ambulances and firefighters quickly raced to La Merced market and extinguished the fire on Corona Street. The toll was grim. 72 persons had been killed in the blasts and fire, including 12 children and 25 women. 83 more persons were injured or burned and required treatment.
The day after, The Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City mayor Manuel Camacho Solis toured the fire-ruined area. Dozens of relatives of the dead mobbed him demanding justice. Vendors who lost everything tossed down soggy and burned cardboard and debris at the mayor demanding those responsible for the negligence and corruption of allowing clandestine fireworks to be sold in such a populated area.
He declared the sale of fireworks illegal in the Federal District and the Valley of Mexico (Mexico City greater area). None of the vendors responsible for the tragedy had valid permits. Rarely any ever do.
It wasnt the last fireworks related disaster at La Merced or in Mexico. Fires routinely break out at the market, but none have been as devastating as the one on December 11th 1988.
In 1999, a market exploded in Celaya, Guanajuato, due to the burning of an illegal cache of gunpowder and fireworks. 65 were killed. On New Years Eve 2002 the Veracruz city market burned, killing 32.
In 1998, in Tultepec, an illegal fireworks shop blew up, devastating 5 city blocks, and killing 20.
Showing posts with label 1988. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1988. Show all posts
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Christmas Slaughter: The 1988 Riot and Assault at the Tepic Jail
All seemed normal during visiting hours late in the evening of December 20, 1988. Christmas was approaching and many families made the visits to the Nayarit State Penitentiary "Venustiano Carranza" in Tepic the state capital to visit their loved ones who would sadly spend their holidays in the squalid prison.
The otherwise tranquil visiting time was soon interrupted by a group of inmates brandishing guns. Six men with firearms caused pandemonium prompting the women and children there to flee for their lives. The prison's guards confronted the armed inmates and a shootout ensued. Their escape attempt had failed
273 adults and almost 200 children were now trapped in the prison, as the rebellious inmates took guards, prison staff and the prison's warden Samuel Alvarado Alpizar hostage. Other employees at the penitentiary fled and hid inside offices, stacking tables and file cabinets against the doors to keep the inmates out. Soon about 50 more inmates joined the six armed prisoners and a riot ensued.
The inmates demanded armored cars so they could flee the prison and more weapons. During the 38 hour standoff with Nayarit State authorities, police and army soldiers who surrounded the prison, Warden Alvarado was shot dead, along with 2 other hostages. The morning of December 21st, police managed to free the more than 400 hostages trapped in the prison, using ladders and bringing them out through the prison's administration buildings windows.
As the riot and standoff grew longer, Nayarit State officials declared themselves incapable to deal with the situation and requested aid to Mexico City.
On December 22, 1988 a government plane landed at the airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, about an hour from Tepic. Inside the jet was the Mexican Federal Police's elite SWAT team Los Zorros (Foxes). Mexico City had sent Los Zorros to quell the rebellion at Tepic jail.
Later that day the 130 men strong Zorros team formed outside the penitentiary and blew open the gates. The team, armed with assault rifles faced off the inmates, and engaged them in a bloody shootout in which the Zorro leading Commander, Jorge Armando Duarte was shot in the forehead and killed by one of the inmates as he tried to negotiate with them into surrendering. The rioting inmates, numbering about 50 were subdued and the remaining hostages were freed.
National and International news crews gathered outside the prison were allowed entry and an NBC crew filmed 5 of the inmates, laying face down and being questioned by the police commando team. Then something strange happened
A hard faced man, one of the Zorro commanders yelled some orders to his men and his group once again assembled outside the prison. Only this time, instead of batons, they were handed machine guns.
"Reporteros y chismosos! A chingar a su madre ! Vayanse!" "News crews and nosy people, get the fuck out of here!" was the harsh command given by the Comandante to the journalists and family members gathered outside the jail after the storming of the prison.
The Zorro team once again entered the Tepic Penitentiary, when all seemed in order and the inmates controlled. Shots were heard.
For about 20 minutes, the cracking of machine guns could be heard inside the prison. When it was over, more than 35 inmates were dead. Bloody and shot up bodies were scattered throughout the now destroyed administration building. Some bodies of the prisoners had marks of execution and the coup de grace. Some showed evidence of having been shot as they fled or as they had been on their knees. The inmates filmed by NBC, subdued and controlled, were among the dead.
Days later, Nayarit state officials denied knowledge of the prisoners filmed alive who would later be found dead. A spokesman for the Nayarit state government said "I cannot explain this to you, no we have no information on the matter". Seemed like no one with authority knew what had happened inside the Venustiano Carranza prison
Prison clerk and hostage Patricia Castillo told reporters after the massacre; "The Zorros entered the prison angry because their commander had been killed. They began shooting indiscriminately".
Weeks later, the men participating in the assault on the prison were reprimanded and some were jailed for their brutal actions.
Vengeance by the Zorros for the death of their commander? Excessive use of brutal force? Senseless agression? Or all of the above? What was known was that nearly 40 inmates had been killed or rather executed on that cold December night in 1988 when Christmastime was stained by blood and bullets at Tepic penitentiary.
The "Zorrazo". "Fox Attack". An event that the victims families or the people of Tepic, Nayarit would never forget.
The otherwise tranquil visiting time was soon interrupted by a group of inmates brandishing guns. Six men with firearms caused pandemonium prompting the women and children there to flee for their lives. The prison's guards confronted the armed inmates and a shootout ensued. Their escape attempt had failed
273 adults and almost 200 children were now trapped in the prison, as the rebellious inmates took guards, prison staff and the prison's warden Samuel Alvarado Alpizar hostage. Other employees at the penitentiary fled and hid inside offices, stacking tables and file cabinets against the doors to keep the inmates out. Soon about 50 more inmates joined the six armed prisoners and a riot ensued.
The inmates demanded armored cars so they could flee the prison and more weapons. During the 38 hour standoff with Nayarit State authorities, police and army soldiers who surrounded the prison, Warden Alvarado was shot dead, along with 2 other hostages. The morning of December 21st, police managed to free the more than 400 hostages trapped in the prison, using ladders and bringing them out through the prison's administration buildings windows.
As the riot and standoff grew longer, Nayarit State officials declared themselves incapable to deal with the situation and requested aid to Mexico City.
On December 22, 1988 a government plane landed at the airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, about an hour from Tepic. Inside the jet was the Mexican Federal Police's elite SWAT team Los Zorros (Foxes). Mexico City had sent Los Zorros to quell the rebellion at Tepic jail.
Later that day the 130 men strong Zorros team formed outside the penitentiary and blew open the gates. The team, armed with assault rifles faced off the inmates, and engaged them in a bloody shootout in which the Zorro leading Commander, Jorge Armando Duarte was shot in the forehead and killed by one of the inmates as he tried to negotiate with them into surrendering. The rioting inmates, numbering about 50 were subdued and the remaining hostages were freed.
National and International news crews gathered outside the prison were allowed entry and an NBC crew filmed 5 of the inmates, laying face down and being questioned by the police commando team. Then something strange happened
A hard faced man, one of the Zorro commanders yelled some orders to his men and his group once again assembled outside the prison. Only this time, instead of batons, they were handed machine guns.
"Reporteros y chismosos! A chingar a su madre ! Vayanse!" "News crews and nosy people, get the fuck out of here!" was the harsh command given by the Comandante to the journalists and family members gathered outside the jail after the storming of the prison.
The Zorro team once again entered the Tepic Penitentiary, when all seemed in order and the inmates controlled. Shots were heard.
For about 20 minutes, the cracking of machine guns could be heard inside the prison. When it was over, more than 35 inmates were dead. Bloody and shot up bodies were scattered throughout the now destroyed administration building. Some bodies of the prisoners had marks of execution and the coup de grace. Some showed evidence of having been shot as they fled or as they had been on their knees. The inmates filmed by NBC, subdued and controlled, were among the dead.
Days later, Nayarit state officials denied knowledge of the prisoners filmed alive who would later be found dead. A spokesman for the Nayarit state government said "I cannot explain this to you, no we have no information on the matter". Seemed like no one with authority knew what had happened inside the Venustiano Carranza prison
Prison clerk and hostage Patricia Castillo told reporters after the massacre; "The Zorros entered the prison angry because their commander had been killed. They began shooting indiscriminately".
Weeks later, the men participating in the assault on the prison were reprimanded and some were jailed for their brutal actions.
Vengeance by the Zorros for the death of their commander? Excessive use of brutal force? Senseless agression? Or all of the above? What was known was that nearly 40 inmates had been killed or rather executed on that cold December night in 1988 when Christmastime was stained by blood and bullets at Tepic penitentiary.
The "Zorrazo". "Fox Attack". An event that the victims families or the people of Tepic, Nayarit would never forget.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
24 Hours of Terror: The Los Mochis Bank Heist
Onlookers crowd the armored truck where the assailants escaped on April 21, 1988 in Los Mochis. 4 people were killed, 12 injured in the notorious bank heist.Wednesday April 20, 1988
Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
Its 12:25 pm. Inside the Banco Nacional de Mexico (Banamex) bank long lines of customers await to deposit or withdraw money.
A young woman named Rosi Padilla stands near the glass doors, smiling and greeting the customers who enter the bank and informing them of the new Invermático ATM machines that Banamex will soon be adding to this branch.
On the other side of the building, bank co manager Manuel Sandoval is helping a customer.
It seems like everything is peaceful; customers and bank employees proceed with their transactions. More than 50 people fill the building, busy as many take advantage of their lunch hours to go to the bank.
5 minutes later, the peace of another routine business day at the bank ends. All hell breaks loose.
Exactly at 12:30 pm, 6 men enter the bank violently brandishing guns and yell "This is a hold up! Nobody move!"
Only a few listen to the robbers. The rest of the people run away, desperately searching for an exit; the men are blocking the main doors. They stop running when they hear a gunshot from a .38 caliber pistol.
"Nobody freak out!" yells the man who pulled the trigger, shooting his gun in the air. The rest of the gunmen take small groups of customers and employees and push them into the restrooms.
Rosi Padilla the smiling cashier at the door is still standing, petrified as she sees the men yelling and threatening to kill anyone who gets in their way.
It was planned on March 25. That day, Mario Valdez, Ivan Camarena, Ramon Terrazas "The Frog", Gilberto Valenzuela, Catarino Felix and Guillermo Gonzalez met at a house to plan the heist.
After agreeing on the type of weapons to use, they chose the date: April 20th. 12:30 pm, the time the Servicio Panamericano armored truck would make a drop at the bank.
After shooting Rosi that April afternoon, one of the robbers rushed to co manager Manuel Sandoval Rendon and grabbed him by the arm, pushing him towards the vault in the back of the building. Inside of the vault, millions of pesos awaited: the men guarding the vault had earlier picked up the money from the Bank teller stations and stashed it in the vault and the armored truck had made the deposit earlier than previously thought.
"Open the door!" one of the robbers screamed at Sandoval.
"I cant! The door opens from the inside!" Sandoval replied.
The robber in frustration proceeded to shoot the helpless co manager in the thigh and Sandoval fell to the floor in agony.
The managers agony was being watched by head cashier Raul Rendon from inside the vault via closed circuit monitor. However he couldn't do anything but watch. At the first gunshots, he had activated the robbery alarm and the vault door had automatically sealed itself. The door couldn't be opened.
By that time the Mexican Federal Judicial Police and Municipal Police had surrounded the bank and closed the streets around the building. Hidalgo Avenue, Guillermo Prieto St., Zaragoza St. and Independencia St. were shut down and no one could drive through.
The gunmen furious because they were now cornered with no money and no way out, they opted for taking the 60 plus customers and employees hostage.
Seeing that the situation grew worse by the minute, a young Mexican Red Cross worker named Marco Antonio Estrada tried to mediate with the robbers. He proposed letting everyone go and he would remain as their sole hostage. The robbers ignored him. Then all hell broke loose.
The police shot out a window on the corner of Guillermo Prieto St and Hidalgo Avenue and threw in a canister of tear gas. Then they opened fire. The gunmen holed up inside the bank returned fire and a shootout ensued.
The shooting only stopped when the robbers yelled to the police they would kill hostages if they didn't stop shooting at them. Then they called a local radio station and demanded an armored truck to escape in, cash and a helicopter to flee the state. If their demands were not met they would blow up the bank and everyone inside with sticks of dynamite they had tucked in their jeans or they would simply start executing hostages. "Were capable of anything, we're not afraid to die" one of the robbers told the radio station, his words broadcast throught the city and nation.
Minutes later as a show of good faith, the robbers released 3 hostages; manager Sandoval Rendon, the Red Cross Worker Marco Antonio Estrada and an off duty Judicial Policeman Roberto Soto Cruz.
But the three men had a tragic end. Upon walking out of the doors, they were met with a hail of bullets. The police, mistaking them for the gunmen, had opened fire. The bodies of the three hostages lay dead on the sidewalk in front of the bank while other hostages inside lay wounded by the shooting.
Overwhelmed by what was happening, Governor Labastida gave the order to comply with the robbers' demands. The order from the governor came precisely at the same time as a group of townspeople had gathered outside the bank and threatened to rush the building to protect the gunmen from the police!
It was Thursday April 21st at 12:40 pm when the violence finally ceased. By then the authorities and robbers had come to an agreement. They would trade the hostages for 3 Red Cross paramedics, Rosario Angulo, Jose Lopez and Santana Ortega, and they would be allowed to flee. Outside a Servicio Panamericano armored truck awaited the men.
National and International TV cameras were rolling as 5 robbers, wielding their guns and sacks of cash boarded the armored truck. The 6th robber lost himself among the crowd of onlookers and freed hostages.
Then something uncanny happened. The truck didnt start. No problem. The crowd of onlookers and townspeople pushed the truck up the street, four blocks until the truck started. A grateful robber stunned everyone by cracking open a door and tossing a fistful of cash to the jubilant crowd. The robbers abandoned the armored truck in the Vicente Guerrero neighborhood and fled on foot, aided supposedly by people who lived in the impoverished neighborhood.
After the heist, the city and nation asked itself. Who was responsible for the slaying of the hostages? The Chief of police of Los Mochis, Joel Velasco Flores blamed the gunmen. Others blamed the bumbling police.
Even though people mourned the deaths of four people that warm April day, Rosi Padilla's death was the most dramatic.
Nobody knew that April 20th would be the last day of her three month job contract at the Banamex bank.
Nobody also knew that months before, she had worked at the Banco Serfin bank on Leyva St. and had been a witness to a robbery at that bank. Two of the six men robbing the Banamex bank on April 20th had participated in the Serfin hold up and they recognized Rosi from before. That earned her a bullet to the chest.
Weeks later the robbers were arrested. One in a hospital and the rest were apprehended individually at their hideouts in Navojoa, Sonora. In 1990, the drama was brought to the Mexican big screen in "Bancazo en Los Mochis" (Heist in Los Mochis), starring well known Mexican soap opera actor Eduardo Yanez as one of the robbers. A corrido was also made, retelling the events at the bank.
21 years have passed since the violent robbery at Banamex in Los Mochis, but for the people involved, hostages and police alike, its a memory that will never go away for a simple reason. Too many innocent people died that day.
(with information from El Debate de Sinaloa newspaper)
Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
Its 12:25 pm. Inside the Banco Nacional de Mexico (Banamex) bank long lines of customers await to deposit or withdraw money.
A young woman named Rosi Padilla stands near the glass doors, smiling and greeting the customers who enter the bank and informing them of the new Invermático ATM machines that Banamex will soon be adding to this branch.
On the other side of the building, bank co manager Manuel Sandoval is helping a customer.
It seems like everything is peaceful; customers and bank employees proceed with their transactions. More than 50 people fill the building, busy as many take advantage of their lunch hours to go to the bank.
5 minutes later, the peace of another routine business day at the bank ends. All hell breaks loose.
Exactly at 12:30 pm, 6 men enter the bank violently brandishing guns and yell "This is a hold up! Nobody move!"
Only a few listen to the robbers. The rest of the people run away, desperately searching for an exit; the men are blocking the main doors. They stop running when they hear a gunshot from a .38 caliber pistol.
"Nobody freak out!" yells the man who pulled the trigger, shooting his gun in the air. The rest of the gunmen take small groups of customers and employees and push them into the restrooms.
Rosi Padilla the smiling cashier at the door is still standing, petrified as she sees the men yelling and threatening to kill anyone who gets in their way.
One of the robbers notices that she doesn't move, looks at her in the face and shoots her in the chest. The young woman falls backwards spitting blood and with her bright eyes wide open as if asking "Why me?".
The bank robbery has claimed its first victim. The robber doesn't flinch as he watches Rosi die on the marble floor.
It was planned on March 25. That day, Mario Valdez, Ivan Camarena, Ramon Terrazas "The Frog", Gilberto Valenzuela, Catarino Felix and Guillermo Gonzalez met at a house to plan the heist.
After agreeing on the type of weapons to use, they chose the date: April 20th. 12:30 pm, the time the Servicio Panamericano armored truck would make a drop at the bank.
After shooting Rosi that April afternoon, one of the robbers rushed to co manager Manuel Sandoval Rendon and grabbed him by the arm, pushing him towards the vault in the back of the building. Inside of the vault, millions of pesos awaited: the men guarding the vault had earlier picked up the money from the Bank teller stations and stashed it in the vault and the armored truck had made the deposit earlier than previously thought.
"Open the door!" one of the robbers screamed at Sandoval.
"I cant! The door opens from the inside!" Sandoval replied.
The robber in frustration proceeded to shoot the helpless co manager in the thigh and Sandoval fell to the floor in agony.
The managers agony was being watched by head cashier Raul Rendon from inside the vault via closed circuit monitor. However he couldn't do anything but watch. At the first gunshots, he had activated the robbery alarm and the vault door had automatically sealed itself. The door couldn't be opened.
By that time the Mexican Federal Judicial Police and Municipal Police had surrounded the bank and closed the streets around the building. Hidalgo Avenue, Guillermo Prieto St., Zaragoza St. and Independencia St. were shut down and no one could drive through.
The gunmen furious because they were now cornered with no money and no way out, they opted for taking the 60 plus customers and employees hostage.
Seeing that the situation grew worse by the minute, a young Mexican Red Cross worker named Marco Antonio Estrada tried to mediate with the robbers. He proposed letting everyone go and he would remain as their sole hostage. The robbers ignored him. Then all hell broke loose.
The police shot out a window on the corner of Guillermo Prieto St and Hidalgo Avenue and threw in a canister of tear gas. Then they opened fire. The gunmen holed up inside the bank returned fire and a shootout ensued.
The shooting only stopped when the robbers yelled to the police they would kill hostages if they didn't stop shooting at them. Then they called a local radio station and demanded an armored truck to escape in, cash and a helicopter to flee the state. If their demands were not met they would blow up the bank and everyone inside with sticks of dynamite they had tucked in their jeans or they would simply start executing hostages. "Were capable of anything, we're not afraid to die" one of the robbers told the radio station, his words broadcast throught the city and nation.
Minutes later as a show of good faith, the robbers released 3 hostages; manager Sandoval Rendon, the Red Cross Worker Marco Antonio Estrada and an off duty Judicial Policeman Roberto Soto Cruz.
But the three men had a tragic end. Upon walking out of the doors, they were met with a hail of bullets. The police, mistaking them for the gunmen, had opened fire. The bodies of the three hostages lay dead on the sidewalk in front of the bank while other hostages inside lay wounded by the shooting.
Overwhelmed by what was happening, Governor Labastida gave the order to comply with the robbers' demands. The order from the governor came precisely at the same time as a group of townspeople had gathered outside the bank and threatened to rush the building to protect the gunmen from the police!
It was Thursday April 21st at 12:40 pm when the violence finally ceased. By then the authorities and robbers had come to an agreement. They would trade the hostages for 3 Red Cross paramedics, Rosario Angulo, Jose Lopez and Santana Ortega, and they would be allowed to flee. Outside a Servicio Panamericano armored truck awaited the men.
National and International TV cameras were rolling as 5 robbers, wielding their guns and sacks of cash boarded the armored truck. The 6th robber lost himself among the crowd of onlookers and freed hostages.
Then something uncanny happened. The truck didnt start. No problem. The crowd of onlookers and townspeople pushed the truck up the street, four blocks until the truck started. A grateful robber stunned everyone by cracking open a door and tossing a fistful of cash to the jubilant crowd. The robbers abandoned the armored truck in the Vicente Guerrero neighborhood and fled on foot, aided supposedly by people who lived in the impoverished neighborhood.
After the heist, the city and nation asked itself. Who was responsible for the slaying of the hostages? The Chief of police of Los Mochis, Joel Velasco Flores blamed the gunmen. Others blamed the bumbling police.
Even though people mourned the deaths of four people that warm April day, Rosi Padilla's death was the most dramatic.
Nobody knew that April 20th would be the last day of her three month job contract at the Banamex bank.
Nobody also knew that months before, she had worked at the Banco Serfin bank on Leyva St. and had been a witness to a robbery at that bank. Two of the six men robbing the Banamex bank on April 20th had participated in the Serfin hold up and they recognized Rosi from before. That earned her a bullet to the chest.
Weeks later the robbers were arrested. One in a hospital and the rest were apprehended individually at their hideouts in Navojoa, Sonora. In 1990, the drama was brought to the Mexican big screen in "Bancazo en Los Mochis" (Heist in Los Mochis), starring well known Mexican soap opera actor Eduardo Yanez as one of the robbers. A corrido was also made, retelling the events at the bank.
21 years have passed since the violent robbery at Banamex in Los Mochis, but for the people involved, hostages and police alike, its a memory that will never go away for a simple reason. Too many innocent people died that day.
(with information from El Debate de Sinaloa newspaper)
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