Crawling into his lover’s luggage following a conjugal visit, this prisoner thought his great escape was in the bag.
But the game was up when guards at the jail in Mexico noticed that the inmate’s 19-year-old girlfriend was acting nervously as she dragged a black, wheeled suitcase to the exit.
When guards unpacked Maria del Mar Arjona’s bag, they found Juan Ramirez Tijerina – serving a 20-year sentence at the jail in Chetumal for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession – squashed inside.
The game's up: Prison inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled inside a suitcase after he tried to escape with the help of his partner
His girlfriend was arrested and is now awaiting charges.
Spokesman Gerardo Campos said Monday that prison guards checked the bag and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the foetal position.
Ramirez is serving a 20-year sentence for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession.
Caught: Maria del Mar Arjona Rivero, 19, holds the luggage she used to try to smuggle her husband out of prison after she was caught in Chetumal, Mexico
Arjona was arrested and charges are pending.
The couple are common-law husband and wife, according to the Washington Post.
Mexican prisons are notorious for their harsh conditions, and earlier this year the head warden of one of the country’s facilities was fatally stabbed during a routine inspection of the facility.
Yet prisoners at another institution in Chihuahua in the north of the country appeared to be enjoying their sentences – after police discovered a bar inside that served beer, tequila and vodka to inmates
Fox News reports that this is already the second incident this year of people trying to hide out in suitcases.
In Spain, a man was caught curled-up inside a suitcase in an alleged attempt to steal from other people's luggage.
Tough: Chetumal Prison in Mexico, scene of the audacious break-out attempt
