Cárcel de Cómbita, Maximum security prison in Cómbita, Colombia.
Cárcel de Cómbita is a maximum-security prison in the municipality of Cómbita, Boyacá, Colombia. It was built following the criteria of United States supermax prisons, with advice and financing from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The complex has capacity for 1,600 inmates, an isolation wing, and three external security rings manned by the National Guard, the Army, and the Police, plus internal enclosure rings with sensors, cameras, X-ray equipment, and floodlights. Cells measure 2 by 3 meters and have concrete beds, an aluminum toilet, and a sink.
Cómbita Prison opened in 2002 as a maximum-security facility built with advice and funding from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, following supermax criteria. In 2016 the national government invested more than 67 billion Colombian pesos in an expansion that added a 576-place pavilion, dining halls and an access portal.
The design was drawn from United States supermax prisons, with advice and funding from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmates are held in cells of 2 by 3 metres with concrete beds, an aluminium toilet and a sink, and the bathroom glass is bulletproof. The prison has held figures such as Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela of the Cali Cartel and John Jairo Velásquez, alias Popeye, Pablo Escobar's chief hitman.
The facility is not open for casual visits due to its high-security classification. Information about the installation is available only through official government channels.
The facility houses 1600 inmates including terrorists, drug traffickers, and paramilitary members requiring the highest level of containment in Colombia.
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