MEXICO CITY (Catholic Online) - The inmates were found 60 miles south (floating in the wrong direction) from the Islas Marisas, an island prison where the men are not locked up but instead are permitted to live in small houses and even tend gardens.

The men were probably trying to reach the Pacific resort of Puerto Vallarta when they were spotted by a passing boat on Thursday. The boat called in the sighting and authorities from a nearby naval base sprung into action. Using patrol boats, they soon found a the inmates floating at sea and plucked them from the water.

The Navy reported that the men were sunburned, but otherwise okay. They were reportedly unhappy that their bid for freedom failed. After a medical examination, they were handed over to prison authorities.

It's probably a good thing they were picked up, since they were headed south and the shoreline was to their east. It's believed that ocean currents are carrying them out to sea although the men didn't know it at the time.

Escape attempts from the island prison have happened many times before, but few, if any have been successful. Men are much more likely to simply "disappear" because the island is 70 miles away from the mainland; it is very difficult for prisoners even with makeshift rafts, to successfully navigate strong ocean currents and other hazards associated with getting to shore. Because of this, the Pacific Ocean makes an effective barrier to contain prisoners.

Another barrier to escape is the relative freedom the inmates enjoy. Instead of being confined to cells, prisoners live in small huts and can tend gardens and raise animals. Life on the island is so good, few prisoner contemplate escape only to risk death or imprisonment in a more notorious facility. 

Perhaps ironically, freedom and the open expanse of the sea make the best walls.

Islas Marisas is the last island prison in the Americas. Panama closed the next-to-last island colony in the Americas in 2004. At the same time, Mexico announced that it was spending $2 million to renovate the Islas Marias facility. About 1,000 to 1,200 inmates are kept at the Island facility.

It is highly unlikely any of them will succeed in surpassing some of the best walls in Mexico--all 70 miles of them. 

© 2011, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.