At least 45 bags of human remains were found in a ravine in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in the west of the country, according to local authorities during the search for seven young people who had been reported missing in recent days.
“The extraction of 45 bags of human remains, which belonged to both male and female individuals, was carried out,” said the statement from the prosecutor’s office, which continued to collect evidence on Thursday.
The discovery took place on Tuesday at the bottom of a ravine of about 40 meters in the municipality of Zapopan, a suburb of the city of Guadalajara.
Forensic experts have yet to determine the number of victims and their identities.
Authorities had launched an operation to locate two women and five men, all in their 30s, who had been reported missing since May 20.
Reports on the whereabouts of the youths were made separately on different days, but authorities found that they all worked in a call center.
The place where the disappeared worked is in the same area where the human remains were found.
According to the initial investigations, the call center would be involved in illegal activities.
This assumption was rejected by the young people’s families, who accused the authorities of criminalizing the victims.
In recent years, human remains have been found in pockets or in clandestine graves in several parts of Jalisco.
In 2021, about 70 bags containing the human remains of 11 people were found in the municipality of Tonalá, in Jalisco.
Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and nearly 100,000 missing, the majority attributed to criminal organizations, since the start of a controversial military anti-drug offensive promoted by the government in December 2006.
Source: DN
