Inside Brazil's most violent prison where inmates are beheaded

These pictures reveal what life is like inside Brazi's most notorious and dangerous prison.

At least 75 inmates have died in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex since 2013, National Council of Justice claims.

And three people were brutally beheaded in the complex that year during violent riots which claimed 60 lives.

Heavily armed military police keep a constant and watchful eye on the prisoners homed within the walls in Maranhao state.

But some of the unrest inside the complex in Sao Luis has cooled recently following efforts from a new state administration, prison officials and leading judges from the state.

Much of the violence stemmed from damaged cells which allowed inmates from rival gangs to mix in the prison's open spaces.

Officials have recently repaired and repopulated the cells which allows the military police guarding the facility to move more freely.

They claim there have been no prisoner-on-prisoner killings in the complex for nearly four months and violence is decreasing.

Other reforms include a policy of custody hearings and real-time camera feeds.

Overcrowding was believed to be one of the primary causes of rioting and violence in Brazil's prisons. 

Additionally, densely packed complexes strengthened prison gangs which now span the country and control the suburbs of cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Sao Luis, where the Pedrinhas Prison Complex lies.

Brazil has the fourth-largest prison population in the world behind the Russia, the U.S. and China.

The number of prisoners has quadrupled in the past twenty years to around 550,000 and the country needs at least 200,000 new spaces to eliminate overcrowding.

A vast increase in minor drug arrests, a lack of legal advice for criminals and a lack of political will for new prisons have contributed to the increases.

In October 2013,  prison gangs inside the complex in north-eastern Brazil left 10 dead and 30 injured in a violent uprising.

Rioting broke out between rival factions and spilled out into the city centre where marauding supporters torched seven buses and besieged the local hospital.

The mutiny started after several prisoners refused to allow wardens to carry out an inspection of their cells. 

The situation rapidly escalated into a confrontation between the officers and the detainees. 

And according to the Latin Times, at least 36 inmates managed to escape from Pedrinhas in September the following year.

Several of them stole a dump truck which they used to knock down a wall in the facility.

Four of the prisoners were able to steal the vehicle, which was inside the prison complex because of ongoing construction, and they rammed it into the outer wall to open up an enormous hole.

According to the Justice and Prison Administration Secretariat of Maranhao, authorities arrested a 19-year-old man for his alleged involvement in stealing the truck and helping the inmates escape.

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