Mexico rescues 271 addicts from overcrowded treatment centre

MEXICO CITY – Authorities in western Mexico say they have freed 271 people from a privately run addiction treatment centre that held them in overcrowded and unhealthy conditions.

Those freed include 112 minors. Thirteen of the teenagers showed evidence of being beaten or burned with cigarettes. Five may have suffered sexual abuse.

Prosecutors in the western state of Jalisco say they found 11 people who used the treatment centre as a hideout to avoid arrest warrants.

Authorities raided the centre near the state capital of Guadalajara on Tuesday. About a dozen people are being held in the case, and prosecutors are trying to seek better treatment for those freed from the centre.

Mexico’s low-cost addiction treatment centres get little or no state support and many have been accused of abuse and overcrowding.