Más Información
Jalisco's Attorney General’s Office discovered a mass grave inside a large property in Guadalajara. So far, authorities have found 23 corpses and six plastic bags containing human remains.
The local Attorney General’s Office informed that the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Disappeared Persons (FEPD) started the search operation on July 13. The property is located in El Pedregal neighborhood, in the El Salto township.
Government officials and special agents are participating in the operation, along with anthropology experts from Jalisco’s Forensic Sciences Institute (IJCF).
According to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Disappeared Persons, they asked groups of people who search for their missing family members to be present during the search.
Up until July 17, authorities found 23 bodies and four bags containing human remains. So far, authorities identified three bodies through information crossover and the victims’ families have received the news.
Local authorities transported the human remains to the IJCF’s office, where experts will analyze the corpses and identify them.
The local Attorney General’s Office said the search will continue in the upcoming days.
Finding mass graves is not uncommon in Jalisco
On June 18, local authorities found 14 bodies inside two ranches located in Lagos de Moreno during an operation to search for missing people.
In one of the ranches called “El Puerto,” authorities found the bodies of three men and a woman. Their hands and feet were tied and their bodies covered in quicklime.
The bodies were found on the outside and five bullet shells were found nearby.
The woman and a man have been identified by their families. The woman’s family explained they lost contact on June 11 and the man was reported as missing since May.
The second ranch, San Cayetano, is located in an unpopulated mountain region that is difficult to access. There, authorities found 10 skeletons covered in quicklime; there are one female and 9 males. The woman and 8 men were beheaded.
On May 12, Jalisco's Attorney General's Office found 25 bodies inside a mass grave located inside a property located in La Piedrera neighborhood, in El Salto.
After three days, experts from the Jalisco’s Forensic Sciences Institute unearthed 25 bodies and five bags containing human remains.
Meanwhile, NGO United Families for Our Missing People Jalisco (FUNDEJ) organized a series of protests to demand that authorities continue to search for mass graves despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jalisco is one of the most violent states in Mexico, especially since drug cartels have started turf wars to control the state.
Mass graves in Mexico
In May 2019, Mexican authorities announced the discovery of 337 bodies in mass graves since December 1, 2019, when President López Obrador took office.
Human Rights Minister Alejandro Encinas said that 337 bodies had been found in 222 graves. At least 72% of the bodies were found in the states of Veracruz, Sonora, Sinaloa, Colima, Zacatecas, Tabasco, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Nayarit.
Veracruz is at the top of the list with 72 corpses. In Guerrero, criminals groups used prefabricated graves or repeatedly reused the same clandestine graves.
Additionally, 35 graves were found in Sonora; 23 in Sinaloa; 20 in Guerrero; 12 in Colima, and 11 in Tabasco.
Moreover, Encinas announced that the Interior Ministry is updating and reviewing the so-called national missing persons registry because it doesn't exist, nor does it contain reliable information, therefore, authorities will create a new registry.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands disappeared since Mexico’s government launched a war against drug cartels in 2006.
The new administration defined the search and identification of missing persons and bodies as one of its top priorities, therefore, the federal government will allocate MXN 500 million for this program.
gm
