Mexicans search for missing relatives to discover possible mass killing sites in Jalisco
Teuchitlan, Mexico (AP) – Last week, a group of citizens looking for missing relatives in the western state of Jalisco arrived at a remote ranch outside Mexico’s second largest city, and all they had to do was push open the unlocked door when prompted anonymously last week.
Inside, they used simple tools (choose, shovel and metal rods) to work, thus completing the work that state investigators said was done six months ago.
They found awkward national authorities and shocked Mexico: dozens of shoes, a pile of clothes and what appeared to be fragments of human bones. Distraught families from all over the country have begun contacting the clothes they know.
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Shockingly, more than 120,000 people in Mexico disappeared, enough to prompt the federal government to take over the troubled investigation.
Cartel recruits’ “training foundation”
The Teuchitlan ranch, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Guadalajara in September last year, was allegedly used as a training base for cartel recruits.
Authorities later said 10 people were arrested, two hostages were released, and bodies were found wrapped in plastic. The state attorney’s office brought backhoe, dog and equipment to spot inconsistencies on the ground.
But then, the investigation became quiet until Jalisco search warrior members, one of dozens of search groups in Mexico, visited the location on tips last week.
They found shoes, and other clothes, which seemed to be burning pieces of bone.
Search group members returned to the scene Thursday and were invited to observe authorities as they worked to register evidence and search the property.
“Many families have advanced to identify the costumes,” said Maribel, a member of the search group. Maribel, a member of the search group, spoke to the media outside the ranch and asked to be determined by her safe name.
“What we want is to stop all of this disappearance,” she said. “We hope they can do their best this time.”
“Irresponsible omission”
According to government statistics, more than 120,000 people have disappeared in Mexico. Search groups such as Jalisco Search Warriors have to be organized to accomplish work that authorities often don’t do. They look for sites like Teuchitlan in Teuchitlan, sometimes protected by the government, but more often without, and then force their discoveries to force the authorities to work.
This time it works.
Jalisco State Attorney Salvador González de Los Santos personally visited the ranch on Tuesday. He said investigators found six groups of bones, but it is not clear how many victims they could belong to. He did not provide details on why investigators have failed to find what untrained private citizens have done before, but he said the previous efforts were “insufficient.”
His office released photos of all the evidence, hoping that relatives could identify a piece of clothing.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus announced Wednesday that the federal attorney general’s office will take over the investigation as requested by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Jalisco’s new generation cartel is the state’s main criminal organization.
On Thursday, white government vehicles rang out an isolated squat building surrounded by high walls and fields.
“This ranch is a training site, and although it sounds bad and is really harsh, it’s for extinction,” collective leader Indira Navarro said earlier this week.
She accused the state’s former governor, Enrique Alfaro, of “trying to hide the situation or discovery.” She asked loudly how state investigators who were technically and trained could not find what her group did “with shovels, shovels and metal bars.”
The Mexican Bishops’ Conference said in a statement Wednesday that the discovery of the situation has bothered the site, which points to the authorities’ “irresponsible omission” in all three levels of government, and another sign of the larger problem of Mexico’s disappearance.
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Sanchez reported from Mexico City.
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