In a harrowing discovery, a clandestine "extermination" camp operated by a Mexican drug cartel has been uncovered in Jalisco state, shedding light on the brutal tactics employed by these criminal organizations.
For years, groups of women known as Las Buscadoras ("The Searchers") have been at the forefront of efforts to locate Mexico’s disappeared—victims of cartel violence, forced disappearances, and government inaction. These women, often mothers, sisters, and wives of missing persons, have become a powerful grassroots movement driven by desperation and love.
The site, located on a ranch in Teuchitlán, approximately 40 miles west of Guadalajara, was found by the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, a group dedicated to searching for missing persons.
Upon investigation, searchers uncovered three underground ovens containing charred human remains, including bone fragments from skulls, fingers, and teeth. Additionally, they discovered over 200 pairs of shoes, clothing, jewelry, and personal items scattered across the site. These findings suggest the ranch was used as a site for mass executions and body disposal by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico's most notorious criminal organizations.
Among the personal belongings found was a handwritten letter from a victim, expressing love and farewell, and a Bible containing photographs of children, indicating the deep personal loss experienced by the victims and their families. A notebook listing the nicknames of 54 victims was also recovered, providing potential leads for identifying those who perished at the site.
This discovery has drawn sharp criticism of local authorities, who had previously investigated the ranch but failed to uncover its true purpose. The federal government has since taken over the investigation, highlighting the ongoing challenges Mexico faces in addressing the crisis of over 120,000 missing persons, many of whom are victims of cartel violence.
The Mexican bishops' conference condemned the existence of such extermination camps, calling them "one of the cruelest expressions of evil and human misery" and urging a coordinated response from the Mexican state to address these atrocities.
This grim revelation underscores the pervasive violence inflicted by drug cartels in Mexico and the profound suffering endured by countless families searching for their missing loved ones.
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