Once was Mx 'Public Enemy No. 1', Alfredo Ríos Galeana, the legendary prison escape artist, dies at 69

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat   Reforma

Once known as "Public Enemy No. 1" dies in free Social Security clinic--During the years he was on the lam in California, Ríos Galeana lived in the house of a Christian pastor,  who supposedly probably influenced him to become a believer, to such an extent that he recorded a disc with religious themes entitled "Transformed by God."

Alfredo Ríos Galeana, the legendary assailant of the 70s and 80s, died last December at a social security clinic in the capital of Oaxaca from a blood infection called sepsis, federal sources reported.

The so-called "public enemy number one", who escaped three times in prison, died at age 69, after spending the last stage of his imprisonment in the Federal Criminal Court of Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz, Oaxaca.

NOTORIETY

Former military, former agent of the Mexican State Police and former commander of the Radiopatrullas Battalion of that entity, the criminal of 1.96 meters tall was imprisoned for the first time in the Lecumberri Penitentiary in 1973, accused of robbery, although he was acquitted of his charges.

Since the late 1970s, when he resigned from his police badge, he began to become a celebrity for the bank robberies he perpetrated in Puebla, Hidalgo, the State of Mexico and the capital of the country.

In 1983 he was arrested in Hidalgo, but escaped from the State Criminal, and later captured in Mexico City, but also escaped from the Penitentiary of Santa Marta Acatitla.

ANOTHER ESCAPE

On November 22, 1986, Ríos Galeana escaped again, this time from the South Reclusorio. He did so through the grid of practices of Criminal Court 33, shattered by an armed command, and since then the authorities had no trace of his whereabouts.

When he escaped for the third time, he already had in his personal account  353 million pesos and committed 15 murders, as well as several arrest warrants for crimes of homicide, theft, firearm injuries, evasion of inmate and property damage other people's.

HE IS CAPTURED 19 YEARS LATER

A mistake on his part  returned him behind bars, because on July 12, 2005 he went to renew his driver's license in Los Angeles, California, but with his fingerprints the United States authorities discovered the true identity of the bank robber.

EXTRADITED TO MEXICO

The United States, where he lived under a false identity for two decades, deported him to Mexico and since then he was imprisoned in the South Prison of the country's capital, the Federal Highlands Criminal Court and finally in Oaxaca.

The also nicknamed "El Charro del Misterio” ["Charro of Mystery"] spent the last 14 years of his life behind bars.

BANK ROBBER AND SINGER

During the years he was in California, Ríos Galeana lived in the house of a Christian pastor, a character who probably influenced him to become a believer, to such an extent that he recorded a disc with religious themes entitled "Transformed by God."

Thank you Borderland Beat Follower for the link to the following corrido:



Lyrics:

Famous South Prison, your fame is over

Reclusorio sur famoso, ya se te acabo tú fama

You're not so scary anymore, like that day in the morning

Ya no eres tan tenebroso, como aquel día en la mañana

When the powerful one left, Alfredo Ríos Galeana

Cuando se fue el poderoso, Alfredo Ríos Galeana

The laws are looking for him, claiming him alive or dead

Las leyes lo andan buscando, lo reclaman vivo o muerto

But they won't catch him, his presence instills fear

Pero no van a atraparlo, su presencia infunde miedo

He will rob all the banks, the final are from the government

Robaran todos los bancos, al fin que son del gobierno

How are they going to stop him, if he is cunning and brave

Como van a detenerlo, si es astuto y es valiente

How are you going to scare him, if you look at him face to face

Como van a amedrentarlo, si lo mirar frente a frente

If he fears neither the devil, nor the bars, nor death

Si no le teme ni al diablo, ni a las rejas, ni a la muerte

In Cancun or Acapulco, maybe you are walking

En Cancún o en Acapulco, tal vez se encuentra paseando

Or swim preparing a bank, to assault it

O nadan preparando un banco, para poder asaltarlo

Gun magazine for defending himself, a great dagger in his hand

Carga para defenderse, una gran daga en la mano

Squad 45, American submachine gun,

Escuadra 45, metralleta americana,

Goodbye also the prison, Nationalized Banking

Adiós también el presidio, Banca Nacionalizada

I dedicate this corrido to Alfredo Ríos Galeana

Le dedico este corrido, a Alfredo Ríos Galeana

How are they going to stop him, if he is cunning and brave?

Como van a detenerlo, si es astuto y es valiente

How are you going to scare him, if you look at him face to face

Como van a amedrentarlo, si lo mirar frente a frente

If he fears neither the devil, nor the bars, nor death

Si no le teme ni al diablo, ni a las rejas, ni a la Muerte