Title: Multiple Bodies Found in Clandestine Graves in Western Mexico
Subtitle: Mothers of Disappeared Persons Lead Discovery in Jalisco
Date: [Insert Date]
Several bodies were discovered on Tuesday in clandestine graves in the state of Jalisco, Western Mexico, after being located by a group of mothers of disappeared persons. The organization, known as Madres Buscadoras de Jalisco, informed AFP that approximately 20 bodies had been found so far.
The authorities have yet to respond to AFP’s requests for information regarding the discovery. These clandestine graves were found in a suburb of Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. The graves are believed to cover an area of about one hectare.
The uncovering of this burial site was the result of an anonymous call received by Indira Navarro, coordinator of Madres Buscadoras de Jalisco, early on Tuesday morning. “I received an anonymous call in which they provided me with the coordinates of the location and stated that there are more than 50 bodies,” Navarro explained. “Upon arrival, we immediately found evidence.”
Jalisco has the highest number of missing persons in Mexico, accounting for approximately 15,000 out of a total of 111,203 registered disappearances throughout the country from 1962 until now, according to the National Registry of Missing Persons.
Security experts attribute the phenomenon of disappearances primarily to conflicts between drug cartels, although not all victims are involved in criminal activities. Driven by desperation and the lack of progress in official investigations, relatives of the disappeared often take matters into their own hands, searching for their loved ones independently.
This particular suburb of Guadalajara, called Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, has previously witnessed similar findings of clandestine graves. On June 14, a group of mothers of the disappeared reported the discovery of 27 bags containing human remains. Additionally, in late May, eight workers from a call center in the state went missing. Their bodies were later found in fifty bags recovered from a cliff in the municipality of Zapopan, another suburb of Guadalajara.
According to initial investigations by the federal government, the telephone center in question may have been involved in real estate fraud and some form of telephone extortion.
Since 2006, when Mexico initiated an anti-drug offensive involving military participation, more than 350,000 homicides have been recorded, with the majority of them attributed by authorities to drug-related conflicts and violence.