Mexico prison guards 'let killers out to commit crime spree'

Guards and officials at a prison in northern Mexico let inmates out, lent them guns and allowed them to use official vehicles to carry out drug-related killings, including the massacre of 17 people, prosecutors claimed.

After carrying out the killings the inmates would return to their cells, the Attorney General's Office said in a revelation that was shocking even for a country wearied by years of drug violence and corruption.

"According to witnesses, the inmates were allowed to leave with authorisation of the prison director ... to carry out instructions for revenge attacks using official vehicles and using guards' weapons for executions," office spokesman Ricardo Najera said at a news conference.

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