96 People

In spite of the installation of a costly, new, and modern $3.3 million dollar perimeter fence around the La Joya and La Joyita prison facilities - that was justified and installed specifically for the purpose of preventing escapes - during 2010 a total of 37 inmates still managed to escape from the facilities according to official figures. Two of the prisoners escaped, Mexicans accused of drug trafficking, escaped in December while several governmental authorities were visiting the prison complex. With these most recent escapes, a total of 96 prisoners escaped from the 22 prisons located throughout the country. (La Prensa)

Editor's Comment: There is a massive difference between "escaping" from prison, and buying your way out. Drug traffickers typically have access to massive piles of cash, and they don't care if they have to part with some of that money in order to buy someone's cooperation in securing the freedom of one of their people. For example, the massive scandal that has been rocking the Public Ministry in the past few weeks - which resulted in the resignation of the "supplemental" Attorney General and the installation of the new Attorney General Jose Ayu Prado - had to to with the release from custody of four accused drug traffickers by an Anti Drug Prosecutor in the Azuero region where they were caught. Did they "escape"? I guess you could call it that - they escaped justice, right? How much money do you think it would take to get a couple of prison guards at La Joya to open the right fence to allow you to make your "escape"? Not very much, right? To these drug traffickers $50,000 isn't a whole lot of money to throw around. OK, so the government spent $3.3 million dollars on a new fence, so what. The drug traffickers are willing to spend five times that much to have someone open the gate - which makes it totally useless.

Origional Source: http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20110108094800305