Baja California’s top prison official has confirmed the existence of an alleged drug trafficking network operating inside El Hongo prison in Tecate, a disclosure that came after an armed ambush on officers transporting a detained guard.
Lorena Huerta Salas, head of the state’s Comisión Estatal del Sistema Penitenciario (State Penitentiary Commission), said investigators identified contraband operations extending beyond narcotics to include cellphones, alcohol, and prostitution inside the Centro de Readaptación Social (CERESO) El Hongo.
Armed Ambush Exposed the Network
The trafficking ring came to light after a prison officer identified as Cortina was caught with drugs and cellphones inside the facility. During his transfer to federal authorities, gunmen linked to a criminal group operating both inside and outside the prison ambushed the transport vehicle. The attack occurred near Colonia Miguel Alemán in Tecate, just before the La Esperanza toll booth.
Investigators believe other guards tipped off the armed group that Cortina “had been discovered,” according to the Zeta Tijuana report. The ambush injured two officers and exposed how deeply the trafficking network had penetrated prison staff.
Four Investigations Opened Against Prison Staff
Baja California’s Secretaría Anticorrupción y la Función Pública (Anti-Corruption and Public Function Secretariat) opened four investigations against correctional employees in Tijuana and Tecate. The probes focus on guards who allegedly allowed inmates to use cellphones and hosted private parties inside the facilities. Women were reportedly brought in to provide sexual services during those gatherings.
El Hongo, located on an arid plain roughly 30 miles east of downtown Tijuana, opened in 2002 as Baja California’s first new state penitentiary in nearly two decades. The maximum-security facility was once considered a model prison, housing some of the region’s most dangerous inmates. The facility gained international attention in 2014 when U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi was held there after crossing the border with firearms.
A Pattern of Corruption
The latest revelations follow a long history of corruption inside Baja California’s prison system. Past inspections at other state facilities found inmates with access to plasma-screen televisions, marijuana, and prostitutes. El Hongo had largely avoided those scandals until now.
The armed attack on the transport officers and the scope of the internal investigation point to organized criminal control over parts of the prison’s daily operations, with guards allegedly serving as both participants and informants for outside criminal groups.
This story was first reported by Semanario Zeta.