Tacumbu prison in Paraguay is regarded as one of the most crowded prisons in the country, however one prisoner, drug lord Jarvis Chimenes Pavao, was found to be living a life of luxury with a three-room apartment that featured a plasma television, DVD library and a fully stocked kitchen.
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The luxury cell was inhabited by Jarvis Chimenes Pavao, and spanned three rooms, according to the BBC.
Pavao was due to complete his sentence for money laundering next year, at the end of which he was likely to face extradition to Brazil.
View of Brazilian drug trafficker Jarvis Chimenes Pavao’s cell at Tacumbu prison.
The drug lord apparently loved watching films about other famous drug lords as the full collection of “Pablo Escobar” TV series was found in his cell.
He has since been moved to a special unit and an investigation has been launched to uncover the prison officials involved in the cell’s lavish makeover.
After the raid, Pavao’s lawyer said the lifestyle her client was able to lead while locked up was proof of how deeply corrupt the Paraguayan prison system had become.
The Justice Minister Carla Bacigalupo was subsequently removed from her post and her replacement, Ever Martinez, promised to destroy the cell.
Police had learned Pavao was planning to escape by using explosives to blow a hole in the wall of the prison.
Like at many prisons across Latin America, most inmates at Tacumbu eat only irregularly and sleep on cardboard boxes or directly on the floor.
To be transferred to the pavilion where he was held, inmates had to pay $5,000, plus weekly rent of $600, a former inmate, Osvaldo Arias, said in a TV interview.
A drug lord has been living inside a luxurious cell in prison, police in South America have discovered. “But he was completing his sentence and helping out with the money he earns legally through his companies”.
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However, the criminal’s lawyer says that the drug lord contributed to the renovation of the prison and paid for lodgings for prison directors and toilets for the guards.
