LIMA – Peru’s largest penitentiary, located in Lima, transforms itself into a discotheque on the weekends where drugs and beer are sold, and authorities also allow entry to women and bands, according to a report published on Tuesday.

A report by Panamericana Television revealed that in the courtyard next to Cellblock 11 of the Lurigancho prison parties with psychedelic lighting like that used in discos are regularly organized.

The prison was build to house 3,000 inmates, but currently it holds more than 11,000 and visits to the facility by women are authorized on Saturdays, although bringing in liquor and drugs is forbidden.

Tickets to the parties run between $3 and $6 and a can of beer is sold for $3.60, the report said.

In addition, the Web site for the daily El Comercio added that on the esplanade in front of the prison’s Cellblock 3 a drug manufactured by the inmates is sold for 33 cents per dose.

In the report, one of the prisoners complained that another inmate, identified as Telmo Vasquez Fernandez, alias “Larry,” demands an obligatory of $3 per inmate for the parties and those who refuse to pay are beaten. EFE