Mel Gibson in controversy with his Mexican movie

London (ANI): Mel Gibson has landed in a new controversy with his Mexican movie —relatives of inmates at a Veracruz jail have blasted plans to move prisoners to make way for the film shoot. The Hollywood actor-turned-director had planned to film the Ignacio Allende prison in the eastern coastal city.

Earlier this month, Veracruz state governor, Fidel Herrera Beltran, announced that prisoners would be moved out of the jail to allow the film crew to work there. Authorities had previously planned to transfer inmates to a new prison in the town next year (10). However, families fear that their loved ones will be sent to facilities across the country if the jail is not built in time, reports the Daily Express.

Hundreds of family members launched demonstrations outside the prison on Monday (28Dec09) in a bid to stop the transfers until the new unit is ready. The 24-hour protest reportedly came to an end on Tuesday after the prison''s director announced he had received no orders to transfer inmates and promised that the families would be informed if any prisoners were to be moved. Gibson previously filmed his 2006 epic Apocalypto in Veracruz and subsequently handed local authorities a 690,000-pound donation to help build new homes for victims of 2005''s Hurricane Stan