The Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 "Altiplano" ( es, Centro Federal de Readaptación Social Número 1 "Altiplano") is the maximum security federal prison (originally called the ''Penal de Máxima Seguridad No. 1 "Almoloya de Juárez",'' later renamed the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 "La Palma" (''Centro Federal de Readaptación Social No. 1 "La Palma"''), before assuming its present name) of the Secretariat of Public Security in Mexico. This facility is located in the neighborhood of Almoloya de Juárez, in the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

, from

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

. The prison was built between 1988 and 1990 under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wo ...

and received its first inmates in November 1991. Of significant concern to Mexican authorities is the risk that the prison could be attacked from the outside as part of an organized prison break. Therefore, the walls have been reinforced to as much as in thickness to discourage ramming. Furthermore, the air space near the facility is restricted, and the authorities claim that cell phone transmissions are limited within of the prison to stymie communications between the inmates and their colleagues outside. Additionally, armored personnel carriers are based near the facility to protect it during a potential assault. This prison was thought to be impenetrable until July 11, 2015, when

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of ...

escaped through a tunnel.

Notable inmates

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ("The Boss of Bosses") and ''El Padrino'' ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord Kingpin. He was one of the founders of th ...

(known as "El Padrino" and "El Jefe De Jefes"): The founder of the modern Mexican drug trade, former leader and founder of the

Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel ( es, Cártel de Guadalajara) also known as The Federation ( es, La Federación, link=no) was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fon ...

, one of the first Mexican cartels which was formed as an alliance of the Sinaloa Cartel, the

Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel ( Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization ( Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, t ...

, and the Juarez Cartel. The cartel had connections to the Medellin Cartel and the

Cali Cartel The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away f ...

, and transported cocaine to the United States for them *

Rafael Caro Quintero Rafael Caro Quintero (born October 24, 1952) is a Mexican drug lord who co-founded the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and other drug traffickers in the late 1970s. He is the brother of fellow drug traf ...

(known as "El Narco de Narcos"): former drug lord of the

Héctor Luis Palma Salazar Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (born April 29, 1960), commonly known as "El Güero Palma", is a Mexican former drug trafficker and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. After the brutal murder of his family ordered by ...

(known as "El Güero"): former drug lord of the Sinaloa Cartel *

: former drug lord of the Sinaloa Cartel, extradited to the United States on January 19, 2017 *

Mario Aburto Martínez Mario Aburto Martínez (born 3 October 1970) is a Mexican man who was convicted for assassinating presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994.

: accused assassin of presidential candidate

Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexica ...

* Miguel Treviño Morales (known as "Z-40"): former leader of the Los Zetas Cartel, currently transferred to the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (Cefereso) No.17, located in Buenavista Tomatlán, in Tierra Caliente, Michoacán. *

Mario Ramírez Treviño Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño (born 5 March 1962), commonly referred to by his aliases El Pelón and/or X-20, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. In the early 2000s, Ramír ...

(known as "El Pelón"): former deputy leader of the Gulf Cartel, extradited to the United States on December 18, 2017 *

Eduardo Arellano Félix Eduardo Arellano Félix (born October 11, 1956) is a Mexican drug trafficker, brother of Benjamín, Ramón, Javier and sister, Enedina, all drug traffickers. The Arellano-Félix Organization, also known as the Tijuana Cartel, has been respo ...

(known as "El Doctor"): former leader of the

Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano (b. ca. 1977), commonly referred to by the alias El Ingeniero ("The Engineer"), is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Tijuana Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in Tijuana, Baja Ca ...

(known as "El Ingeniero"): former deputy leader of the

Dionisio Loya Plancarte Dionisio Loya Plancarte (born 21 October 1955) is a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a quasi-religious criminal organization based in the state of Michoacán. He is the uncle of Enrique Plancarte Solís ...

(known as "El Tío"): former leader of the Knights Templar Cartel *

Servando Gómez Martínez Servando Gómez Martínez (born February 6, 1966), commonly referred to by his alias La Tuta (The Teacher) for once being a teacher, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a criminal organization based in the st ...

(known as "La Tuta"): former leader of the Knights Templar Cartel *

Omar Treviño Morales Óscar Omar Treviño Morales (born January 26, 1974) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of Los Zetas, a criminal organization. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. His brother is Miguel Treviño Morales, a former lea ...

(known as "Z-42"): former deputy leader of the Los Zetas Cartel *

Abigael González Valencia Abigael González Valencia (; born October 18, 1972), commonly referred to by his alias El Cuini (), is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He was also ...

(known as "El Cuini"): former deputy leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel *

José Maria Guizar Valencia José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

(known as "Z-43"): former top lieutenant of the Los Zetas Cartel *

José Antonio Yépez Ortiz José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, known as El Marro, The Sledgehammer and The Brown, is a Mexican suspected drug trafficker and huachicolero (fuel thief). Between 2017 and 2020, he served as the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), a crimin ...

(known as "El Marro"): former leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel * Daniel Arizmendi López (known as "El Mochaorejas"): leader of

Kidnapping express Express kidnapping ( es, secuestro exprés; pt, sequestro relâmpago) is a method of abduction where a small immediate ransom is demanded, often by the victim being forced to withdraw money from their ATM account. Known in the United States si ...

, a kidnapping gang *Various alleged members of the Los Zetas Cartel:

Jaime González Durán Jaime González Durán (a.k.a. ''El Hummer'', born 8 October 1971) is a Mexican former drug lord who was one of the 14 original founding members and third-in-command of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. A former Mexican Army elite sol ...

(known as "El Hummer"), Nabor Vargas García (known as "El Débora") and "El Barbas" *

Teodoro García Simental Teodoro García Simental (a.k.a.: ''El Teo'' and ''El Tres Letras'', born 1974) is a former lieutenant of the Mexican criminal organization known as the Tijuana Cartel, and later allied with the Sinaloa Cartel. He was arrested by Mexican Feder ...

(known as "El Teo"): drug lord who broke off from the Arellano Félix organization *Various alleged

Zapatistas Zapatista(s) may refer to: * Liberation Army of the South, formed 1910s, a Mexican insurgent group involved in the Mexican Revolution * Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), formed 1983, a Mexican indigenous armed revolutionary group based ...

Marco Antonio García Simental Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

(known as "El Cris" & "El 8-9"): lieutenant in the Arellano Félix organization and older brother of "El Teo".

In popular culture

The 2017

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and inclu ...

series, '' El Chapo'', depicts

's incarceration and experience in the prison, and his escape through a tunnel on July 11, 2015, which disproved the assumption that the prison was impenetrable.

References

External links

*
CENTROS FEDERALES DE READAPTACIÓN SOCIAL
"
Archive
Secretariat of Public Security. *
Centro Federal de Readaptación Social N°1 "Altiplano"
COFEMER. {{DEFAULTSORT:Penal Del Altiplano Buildings and structures in the State of Mexico Prisons in Mexico

Notable inmates

In popular culture

See also

References

External links