Prisons in Mexico — CEFERESO Complex

OADPRS and the overall system

Mexico's federal prison system is administered by the Órgano Administrativo Desconcentrado Prevención y Readaptación Social (OADPRS). The total population stands at around 266,000 detainees across federal and state prisons combined (as of April 2026). The CNDH (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos) publishes an annual Diagnóstico Nacional de Supervisión Penitenciaria, which documents systemic deficiencies.

CEFERESO No. 1 “El Altiplano” (Almoloya)

The Centro Federal de Readaptación Social No. 1 “Altiplano” in Almoloya de Juárez (State of México) is Mexico's most important maximum-security prison. Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was held here until his escape on July 11, 2015; after his recapture in January 2016 he was initially held here again, was transferred to CEFERESO No. 9 (Ciudad Juárez) in May 2016, and was extradited from there to the USA on January 19, 2017.

Other CEFERESO facilities

CEFERESO No. 2 “Puente Grande” (Jalisco) was another maximum-security facility — historically tainted (El Chapo's first escape in 2001); it was removed from the federal prison system and closed in September 2020. The central federal women's prison since 2015/2016 has been CEFERESO No. 16 “CPS Femenil” in Coatlán del Río (Morelos); it replaced the former “Noroeste” women's facility in Tepic (Nayarit). The former Topo Chico facility in Monterrey was closed in 2019 after years of violent incidents.

Assessment under extradition law

The Méndez Mission of 2014/2015 (UN Special Rapporteur A/HRC/28/68/Add.3) documented allegations of torture in Mexican maximum-security prisons. In extradition proceedings, you must press for specific assurances regarding placement — blanket references to the CEFERESO system do not meet the requirements of the ECJ in Aranyosi/Căldăraru and the ECtHR case law on Article 3 ECHR.

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