MEXICO Life in the Posh Lane

For most inmates, prison is a spartan experience. But not for Mexican drug baron Oliverio Chavez Araujo, 33, who has been linked to Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel and has been incarcerated since 1986 at the state prison in Matamoros. After members of a rival drug gang shot Chavez in the jaw and nearly blinded him three weeks ago, his bodyguards staged a violent takeover of the prison; 18 people died. Once in control of the complex, Chavez continued to make drug deals from his cell, which was outfitted with cellular phones and a fax machine. Though state police ringed the prison, he managed to bring in doctors and undergo surgery for his wounds.

After five hours of negotiations with assistant attorney general Federico Ponce Rojas, Chavez surrendered last week and was flown to Mexico City aboard a government jet. Earlier, in a letter addressed to the New York Times, Chavez said he had been the target of a paid assassin, and would provide evidence implicating agents of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police, who oversee antidrug efforts. Law-enforcement officials in Mexico and the U.S. have long complained about corruption among members of the federal police, who have been accused of murder, rape and other abuses, including the 1985 torture and killing of Enrique Camarena, an American drug-enforcement agent. After Chavez’s surrender, authorities arrested several top prison and police officials.