They extinguish a fire in a Guatemalan prison, authorities keep secrecy

The fire at the Cantel Penal Farm in Quetzaltenango affected the kitchen, dining room, and laundry and caused only material damage. (Guatemalan Volunteer Firefighters) For reasons still unknown, in the early hours of Monday, August 10, a fire was reported at the Cantel Penal Farm located in the department of Quetzaltenango in Guatemala. The incident affected the kitchen, dining room, and laundry areas, leaving only material damage and occurring amid a series of recent events in Guatemalan prisons, including an armed attack in zone 18 and operations against extortion in Pavón. The flames were controlled by the Volunteer Firefighters, who reported that no persons were injured or killed. Meanwhile, the authorities of the General Directorate of the Penitentiary System remain silent and, so far, have not provided any information about what happened. On their part, the Volunteer Firefighters reported that approximately 3,300 gallons of water were used to fight the fire and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the penitentiary, mainly those where inmates are held. So far, it is known that the incident caused only material damage in several areas of the prison, while the causes of the fire are unknown. Due to the lack of an official statement, the exact extent of the damage to the infrastructure has not been detailed. The Volunteer Firefighters controlled the fire at the Cantel Penal Farm with about 3,300 gallons of water and prevented its spread. (Guatemalan Volunteer Firefighters) The Cantel Model Rehabilitation Farm is a medium and maximum security male prison mainly for people who have already served their sentences. It is one of the most populated prisons in Guatemala. It has often been pointed out that the prison suffers from overcrowding and infrastructure failures. The emergency on Monday occurred a few days after another incident within the prison system. On August 2, an armed attack was reported in which Carlos Roberto Ortiz Romero, alias “Gorgojo,” and his wife were killed during a conjugal visit at the Annex B Preventive Detention Center for Men, in zone 18, Guatemala City. During that attack, a prison guard was also injured when he intervened to repel the assault. After the incident, the Penitentiary System activated emergency protocols, conducted a search, and isolated the inmates suspected of involvement. This prison had already been intervened months earlier. On April 26, the Guatemalan Army, in coordination with the National Civil Police and the Penitentiary System, carried out a surprise search at the Cantel Model Rehabilitation Farm. A search at the Cantel Penal Farm in April led to the seizure of cell phones, liquor, drugs, and improvised weapons inside the prison. (Guatemalan PNC) During that operation, 49 cell phones, 18 chargers, four phone batteries, 15 electrical cables, three Motorola-type communication radios, three chargers for those devices, four USBs, three SD cards, one SIM card, four headphones, and 102 speakers were found. Also discovered were 11 televisions, three fans, a backup power unit, 228 cigarette packs, 29 tobacco cigars, seven cans of beer, 65 bottles of illegal liquor, and an additional container with alcoholic content. The official report also added the discovery of approximately one kilogram and one pound of alleged marijuana, 100 small bags with possible marijuana, 12 additional packages, four pipes, seven containers used for grinding drugs, four bags with possible cocaine, eight stones of presumed crack, and nearly 500 containers used for packaging drugs. Authorities also seized 15 sharp objects used as improvised weapons within the penitentiary.