[imagesource: YouTube / VICE News]

Remember Prison Break, Michael Schofield, Lincoln Burrows, and the rest of that motley crew?

Fun fact – it returned for a fifth season in 2017, but some things are better left in the past.

There was no need for maps tattooed on bodies during a jailbreak in Reynosa, Mexico, as gunmen in special forces uniforms broke a cartel boss out of a prison located just miles from the American border.

It almost appears too easy, but then you can’t exactly blame anyone for not standing up to the gunmen in a country where drug-fuelled violence is so commonplace.

What’s perhaps most worrying is the fact that the gunmen could be active members of the Mexican Navy special forces (UNOPES), which would be a damning indictment of state corruption.

The escape took place on July 13.

VICE below:

José Alfredo Hernández Campos, alias El Calamardo or Metro 27… was allegedly a high-ranking member of the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel…

In the aftermath of the escape, members of the Gulf Cartel set up blockades throughout the city to stop police from recapturing Hernández Campos, leading to clashes with gunmen throughout Reynosa.

Before we get to all of that, here’s the footage from inside the prosecutor’s jail shortly after 6PM on July 13:

There are conflicting reports coming out of Mexico on whether or not the gunmen wearing uniforms are current or former members of Mexico’s armed forces.

Hernández Campos is alleged to have been one of the top lieutenants of the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel controlled by César Morfín, alias El Primito, and his younger brother, Alvaro Noe Morfín, aka R8…

In recent years, the Gulf Cartel has been plagued by continued infighting between numerous groups like the Metros, the Rojos, and the Scorpions after the arrests and murders of numerous top leaders in the past decade. The city of Reynosa has been ground zero for much of the recent conflict.

Public shootouts between warring factions have become routine, with an attack in June leaving 18 dead.

Having been broken out of jail, the reprieve for Hernández Campos was shortlived:

His body was discovered on the side of the road in the nearby town of Díaz Ordaz earlier this month.

The underworld source claimed that Hernández Campos had turned on the Morfín brothers after his liberation, and was executed by the same UNOPES forces that had helped him escape.

Live by the sword, and die by the sword.

[source:vice]