Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 53: Barrio 18 and MS-13 Prison Riot and Massacre in Támara Women’s Prison, Honduras
John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker
Small Wars Journal
30 June 2023
A prison riot broke out in the Women’s Prison (Centro Femenino de Adaptación Social, Támara), in Támara, Honduras on 20 June 2023. The riot, which ultimately resulted in a massacre of at least 41 inmates, started as a brawl between members of the rival Pandilla 18 (Eighteenth Street) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs. The part of the prison where the riot occurred burned down and was fully destroyed. An additional five persons subsequently succumbed to their wounds. In the aftermath of the incident, which has caused a national governmental crisis, the Honduran military assumed control of prisons throughout Honduras.
