I've read from multiple sources that the Aztecs didn't have a prison system. However, I also know that they took many captives. Unless they were marched straight from the battlefield to the temple, I assume they had to be detained in some way for a time? Is the "Aztecs did not have prisons" statement only referring to the use of incarceration as a legal punishment?
The Aztecs very much had a prison system which went hand in hand with their various judicial systems. If someone was found guilty of a crime and prison was the punishment, said person would be sent to one of four prison types depending on the severity of their crime. Prisoners condemned to death were sent to the cuauhcalli to wait their execution, which is probably some sort of holding cell. Prisoners found of minor crimes went to the petlacalli which were made up of cells that "were so dark, harsh, and cruel" coupled with poor and inadequate food. Often times a sentence to a petlacalli meant death. If someone was guilty of having unpaid debts they went to the debtor's prison which was called a teilpiloyan. Lastly, for other minor crimes, a judge would simply draw lines in the dirt or designate a space using sticks on the ground and told the prisoner not to cross the boundary.