23 killed in Mexican prison riot

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MEXICO CITY, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Twenty-three inmates were killed Wednesday in a drug gang-related prison riot in northern Mexico, authorities said.

Military commander Gen. Moises Melo Garcia told local media in Durango, Mexico, that fighting broke out as new prisoners were being processed into the overcrowded facility, The New York Times reported.

Melo Garcia said soldiers responded to the rioting and when they entered the facility they found 23 slain inmates, the report said.

The newspaper said lightly populated Durango state has become a battleground between rival drug gangs. Jails in the area are overcrowded and have become stretched beyond capacity due to the government's war against narcotics traffickers, the Times said.

Observers say suspected drug cartel members sometimes wait years for trials while housed in the poorly guarded facilities.