Islas Marias: Mexico's 'Alcatraz' Prison Island May Soon Host Cruise Ships

The last island penal colony in Mexico, also known as Las Islas Marias, was the government's pride when it was established in 1905. It was the most modern prison model of its time back then.

Mexico closed its infamous penal colony in 2019 to turn into an environmental and cultural education center. Now, Mexican officials announced that ferries and cruise ships will now be allowed to visit the penal colony after its closure in 2019, according to an Associated Press report.

The administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is currently driving the last island penal colony on a different track after the education camp has not performed well, with only 40 youths trained on the island. Also, it has not been offsetting the costs associated with keeping it open.

On Saturday, officials said they plan to build a dock for larger ships on the Isla Madre main island. Isla Madre is one of the four Marias islands that is inhabited.

Islas Marías Federal Prison History

The island penal colony was a feared detention center due to violence, disease, and forced labor. More than 29,000 prisoners were housed inside the prison, according to a Grim Happenings article.

Under Ernesto Zedillo's administration, the government decided to modernized the prison model system. Islas Marias was then deactivated.

On Nov. 27, 2003, it was declared a biosphere reserve. However, the prison system remains to exist. It was reactivated in 2004 to transfer 2,500 prisoners to various prisons all over the country.

López Obrador said the island prison has been a symbol of oppression and was a place where human rights violations were recorded.

López Obrador announced in 2019 that it would be turned into a cultural education center, believing that there should be more schools and fewer prisons, according to a Mexico News Daily report.

"The island will be transformed into a center for the arts, for culture, and to learn about the environment and nature, and the flora and fauna of these and other islands," López Obrador said in a report.

Over the course of the history of the Islas Marias prison, there had been at least 76 escapes in the last 25 years. Out of the total number of escapes, 29 took place in 1986 alone. An entire family of kidnappers escaped back on Oct. 25, 1986.

In 2006, three drug dealers managed to escape. The said drug dealers were José Abraham González Salas, Fernando Méndez del Fierro and Luis Rey López Barrera. On Nov. 24, 2011, six inmates tried to escape using plastic containers to float themselves.

Meanwhile, officials said that visitors would be able to tour the remote island prison. However, they cannot stay overnight.

"The experience begins with the cruise ship or ferry arriving from Mazatalán or San Blas, to Isla Madre, and on the voyage the passengers can admire the beauty of the ocean," Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco said in an ABC News Go report.

Officials compared the Islas Marias to the now-closed U.S. prison at Alcatraz.

WATCH: Mexico Closes Infamous Island Prison - from CGTN America