Medellín announces a megaprison like Bukele's

The mayor of Medellín announced that in May 2027 the construction of the first "mega prison" in the country will be completed, a center for 1,339 people that seeks to be an infrastructure model in terms of penitentiary security for the rest of Colombia.

The work, located in the town of San Cristóbal, in the northwest of the city, is already halfway through its execution and has a total investment of more than 675,000 million pesos (about 210 million dollars), the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez, reported this Monday.

"We are going from strength to strength: 47% progress has been made in the construction of the Metropolitan Megaprison of Medellín. Here the criminals are really going to be paying jail time, not out there extorting people," said Gutiérrez.

The mayor explained that, after completing construction, it will take a month and a half to prepare the security and technology systems and carry out the first tests.

Gutiérrez added that he hopes that by the end of July 2027 the prison will house about 1,200 people, inmates who currently remain in Police stations and who, he said, should be held in adequate facilities.

The infrastructure will have six pavilions, five with capacity for 240 inmates each and a special one for 139 people, which will have a Special Treatment Unit and spaces adapted for people with disabilities.

The project also includes areas of health, training, education and family visits, as well as administrative and service units.

"This has to be a model not only for Medellín, but for Colombia," said Gutiérrez, who indicated that the center will have specialized private surveillance for prison facilities and spaces for work, training and education of people deprived of liberty.

This penitentiary center is built under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the first of its kind in Colombia. The contract contemplates a 15-year concession, distributed over three years of construction and 12 of operation.

The mayor's office assured that the center will allow temporary detention spaces to be decongested and free up the operational capacity of the Police to concentrate on the prevention and prosecution of crime.

Since the electoral campaign, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has promised the construction of maximum security megaprisons, following the model of his counterpart Nayib Bukele.