Compacted inmate disposed with trash

El Paso, Texas: A 30-year-old Mexican national who was being held on drug-related charges was found crushed to death in a landfill.

Carlos Roberto Medina-Bailon’s was found after investigators traced the trash route taken by a garbage truck that serviced the prison.

Sheriff Richard Wiles explained what he believed to have happened:

We believe he managed to hide in the trash and was able to get into an area which at some point became unsecured when the gates were opened to allow vehicles in and out of the facilities, and that’s how he escaped.

When asked whether Medina-Bailon should be considered dangerous, Sheriff Wiles explained that the deceased inmate did not have a criminal record for violence, but added that he most likely had connections to drug cartels:

Clearly there’s a connection to drug cartels, he’s a distributor, a smuggler, so to what extent we don’t know

Had he gotten free of the trashcan in time, it is believed that Medina-Bailon’s next stop was Mexico.