Abstract

Mexico’s federal prisons, known as Ceferesos (Centros Federales de Readaptación Social), are a complex system facing challenges. While intended for rehabilitation, reports often highlight overcrowding, violence, and inadequate living conditions.
In this article we will show the location of federal prisons in Mexico, including the famous Islas Marías, which closed in 2019.
We wil use Folium, a powerful Python library to enhance data analysis and geographic visualization.

What is OADPRS?

The Decentralized Administrative Body for Prevention and Social Readaptation (OADPRS) is a key institution in Mexico’s public security system.

It is a decentralized administrative body, meaning it has technical and operational autonomy, but reports hierarchically to the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection. Its main objective is to administer the Federal Penitentiary System, implementing policies for crime prevention and the social rehabilitation of inmates.

Main Functions

Administration of the Federal Penitentiary System

Responsible for the management and operation of federal social rehabilitation centers (CEFERESOS) throughout the country.
Implementation of social reintegration policies

Develops and implements programs and strategies to facilitate the reintegration of inmates into society through educational, employment, sports, and health activities.
Guarantee of Human Rights

Ensures respect for the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty, ensuring decent living conditions in prisons.
Crime Prevention

Contributes to crime prevention through the implementation of effective social reintegration programs and collaboration with other public security institutions.

Importance

The OADPRS plays a fundamental role in the criminal justice system, as social rehabilitation is a key element in reducing recidivism and strengthening public security. Its work is essential to ensuring that persons deprived of their liberty have the opportunity to reintegrate into society in a productive and law-abiding manner. The work of the OADPRS is monitored by the National Human Rights Commission to ensure that inmates’ rights are respected.

Challenges

The OADPRS faces significant challenges, such as overcrowding in some prisons, the need to improve inmates’ living conditions, and the fight against corruption. In addition, the CNDH has issued various recommendations stemming from the lack of timely medical care within penitentiary centers.

In short, the OADPRS is a crucial institution for public safety and criminal justice in Mexico, responsible for administering the federal penitentiary system and promoting the social reintegration of inmates.

Environment settings

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# import libraries
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import polars as pl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
plt.style.use('ggplot')

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# read data from url
df = pd.read_html('https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Prisiones_de_M%C3%A9xico')[0]

Data manipulation

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# headers
columns = ['prison','location','construction','qualification','surface_m2','capacity','inmates',
           'cost_$MX','coordinates']

# rename dataframe headers
df.columns = columns

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# drop subtitles
ceferesos = df.drop([0,2,19,], axis=0).reset_index(drop=True)

# select relevant columns
ceferesos = ceferesos.iloc[:18]

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# clean coordinates to get latitude and longitude
ceferesos['coordinates'] = ceferesos['coordinates'].str.split()
# latitud
latitude = ceferesos['coordinates'].str[-2]
# longitude
longitude = ceferesos['coordinates'].str[-1]
# add latitude
ceferesos['latitude'] = latitude
# drop '\ufeff' from latitude
ceferesos['latitude'] = ceferesos['latitude'].str.replace('\ufeff','')
# drop ',' from latitude
ceferesos['latitude'] = ceferesos['latitude'].str.replace(',','')
# add longitude
ceferesos['longitude'] = longitude

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# list columns
list(enumerate(ceferesos.columns))

[(0, 'prison'),
 (1, 'location'),
 (2, 'construction'),
 (3, 'qualification'),
 (4, 'surface_m2'),
 (5, 'capacity'),
 (6, 'inmates\u200b'),
 (7, 'cost_$MX'),
 (8, 'coordinates'),
 (9, 'latitude'),
 (10, 'longitude')]

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# select relevant columns
ceferesos = ceferesos.iloc[:, [0,1,5,9,10,]]

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# convert column to numeric
ceferesos['capacity'] = pd.to_numeric(ceferesos.loc[:, 'capacity'])

Capacity of Federal Prisons in Mexico - 2016

The following chart shows the official capacity for each federal prison in Mexico. However, these facilities are often overcrowded, exceeding their intended capacity.

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sns.barplot(y='prison',
            x='capacity',
            data=ceferesos.sort_values(by='capacity', ascending=False,),
            color='#0066a1')

plt.figtext(-0.12, 0.91,
'''In the early 1900s, the Mexican government established a penal colony on Isla María Madre,
the largest island.
The prison housed high-security inmates in a harsh and isolated environment.
The infamous Islas Marías remained a federal prison complex until its closure in 2019.''',
            ha="left",
            fontsize=10,
            bbox={"facecolor": "white", "pad": 5})

plt.ylabel('')
plt.show()

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# formatting numbers
ceferesos['capacity'] = ceferesos.loc[:, 'capacity'].map('{:,.0f}'.format)

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# convert coordinates to numeric
ceferesos[['latitude','longitude']] = ceferesos[['latitude','longitude']].apply(pd.to_numeric)

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ceferesos

	prison	location	capacity	latitude	longitude
0	CPF Islas Marías	Puerto Balleto, Nayarit	11,000	21.633202	-106.539209
1	CEFERESO n.º 1 El Altiplano / Almoloya	Santa Juana Centro, Estado de México	750	19.420583	-99.748747
2	CEFERESO n.º 2 Occidente	Puente Grande, Jalisco	2,200	20.555467	-103.193661
3	CEFERESO n.º 3 Noreste	Matamoros, Tamaulipas	725	25.847306	-97.634417
4	CEFERESO n.º 4 Noroeste	El Rincón, Nayarit	909	21.602131	-104.933199
5	CEFERESO n.º 5 Oriente	Villa Aldama, Veracruz	1,150	19.624694	-97.219000
6	CEFERESO n.º 6 Sureste	Villa Estación Chontalpa, Tabasco	1,000	17.659222	-93.495417
7	CEFERESO n.º 7 Nor-Noroeste	Guadalupe Victoria, Durango	850	24.431806	-104.168167
8	CEFERESO n.º 8 Nor-Poniente	Ejido La Chuparrosa, Sinaloa	5,999	25.525250	-108.532250
9	CEFERESO n.º 9 Norte	Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua	2,303	31.494083	-106.457556
10	CEFERESO n.º 10 Nor-Noreste	Monclova, Coahuila	1,800	26.933167	-101.325583
11	CEFERESO n.º 11 CPS Sonora	Hermosillo, Sonora	4,000	28.969806	-111.287889
12	CEFERESO n.º 12 CPS Guanajuato	Ocampo, Guanajuato	3,300	21.783355	-101.467434
13	CEFERESO n.º 13 CPS Oaxaca	Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz, Oaxaca	2,500	16.382444	-96.585917
14	CEFERESO n.º 14 CPS Durango	Ejido 6 de Octubre, Durango	2,500	25.839014	-103.578853
15	CEFERESO n.º 15 CPS Chiapas	Villa Comaltitlán, Chiapas	2,500	15.252139	-92.592371
16	CEFERESO n.º 16 CPS Morelos	Coatlán del Río, Morelos	300	18.681722	-99.443444
17	CEFERE Psicosocial (CEFEREPSI)	Ciudad Ayala, Morelos	500	18.734222	-98.852583

Geographical Distribution of Mexico’s Federal Penal System

The following map shows the location of each federal prison in Mexico.

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import folium
from folium.plugins import Fullscreen

map = folium.Map(
    location=[23.65, -103.10],
    zoom_start=5,
    control_scale=False,   
)

# Layers
Ceferesos = folium.FeatureGroup(name= '<u><b>Ceferesos</b></u>',show= True)
map.add_child(Ceferesos)
#draw marker with symbol you want at base
my_symbol_css_class3= """ <style>
.fa-mysymbol3:before {
    font-family: Arial; 
    font-weight: bold;
    font-size: 12px;
    color: white;
    background-color:'';
    border-radius: 10px; 
    white-space: pre;
    content: 'P';
    }
</style>    
        """
# the below is just add above  CSS class to folium root map      
map.get_root().html.add_child(folium.Element(my_symbol_css_class3))
# then we just create marker and specific your css class in icon like below
for i in ceferesos.index:
   html=f"""
        <p style="font-size: 14px;">{ceferesos.iloc[i]['prison']}</font></p>
        <p style="font-size: 14px;">Location: {ceferesos.iloc[i]['location']}</font></p>
        <p style="font-size: 14px;">Capacity (inmates): {ceferesos.iloc[i]['capacity']}</font></p>
        """
   iframe = folium.IFrame(html=html, width=200, height=130)
   popup = folium.Popup(iframe, max_width=250)
   
   folium.Marker(
        location = [ceferesos.iloc[i]['latitude'], ceferesos.iloc[i]['longitude']],
        icon = folium.Icon(color='darkblue', prefix='fa', icon='fa-mysymbol3'),
        popup = popup,
        tooltip = ceferesos.iloc[i]['prison']
    ).add_to(Ceferesos)
folium.plugins.Fullscreen().add_to(map)

<folium.plugins.fullscreen.Fullscreen at 0x311e43140>

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map

Make this Notebook Trusted to load map: File -> Trust Notebook

Info

You can hover the mouse over the green icons to get additional information and interact with the map by zooming in or out to see the exact location.

Conclusions

In this article, we briefly collected open data from federal prisons in Mexico, cleaned the dataset and got coordinates to create an interactive map by using Folium and Python.

We showed a chart with different capacities of each federal prison and presented the geographical distribution of federal prisons in Mexico.

References

Comisión Nacional de Seguridad, Secretaría de Gobernación (2016). Cuaderno mensual de Información Estadística Penitenciaria Nacional, Junio 2016.
Wikipedia (2016). Mexico Prisons. Retrieved from website.
Corbin A (2024). The Institutional Deficiencies Which Cause Mexico’s 95% Impunity Rate. Retrieved from Scielo Website.

Contact

Jesus LM
Economist & Data Scientist

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