State security officials said fighting between rival gangs broke out Saturday at the adjacent Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho lockups near the city of Natal in the Rio Grande do Norte state. Officials waited until dawn Sunday before entering to try to re-impose control, said state security chief Caio Cesar Bezerra. The recent outbreak of prison violence began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Experts say First Command is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the penitentiaries to expand its reach across the national prison system. He said two other inmates died in a confrontation with police while trying to flee.

Source: ABC News January 15, 2017 12:28 UTC