Mexican police find 45 bags of human body parts in a ravine

At least 45 bags of human remains have been found in a ravine in the western Mexican state of Jalisco during a search for eight people missing last week, local authorities said Thursday.

“45 bags of human remains, belonging to both men and women, have been seized,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The gruesome find was made on Tuesday at the bottom of a 40-meter gorge in the municipality of Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, a major industrial center.

Mexican investigations

Authorities launched a search for two women and six men in their 30s who went missing around May 20.

Each was reported missing on separate days, but investigators determined that they all worked at the same call center.

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The call center was in the same area where the human remains were found.

Forensic experts have yet to establish the number of victims and their identities.

Initial inquiries suggested that the call center may have been involved in illegal activity, with local media reporting that authorities found marijuana, a cloth and cleaning cloth with obvious blood stains, and documents of possible commercial activity.

But the relatives of the missing accused the authorities of trying to portray the victims as criminals.

Human remains in bags

In recent years, human remains have been found in sacks or unmarked graves in various parts of Jalisco.

In 2021, about 70 bags containing the remains of 11 people were found in the municipality of Tonala in the state of Jalisco.

And in 2019, in a deserted area of ​​​​Zapopan, the bodies of 29 people were found in 119 bags.

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Another case that caused numerous protests in Jalisco was the disappearance in March 2018 of three film students, whose remains were dissolved in acid.

Also in 2018, the media reported the disappearance of three Italians, allegedly handed over by the police to the Jalisco New Generation cartel, to whom they allegedly sold faulty equipment.

The Italians were not found despite extensive searches by state and federal law enforcement.

According to local media, in the first two months of this year alone, the remains of 33 people were found in five makeshift graves in the Guadalajara region.

The Jalisco New Generation cartel operates in the state and is one of the most powerful organized crime groups in Mexico and is embroiled in disputes with other drug syndicates.

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Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and nearly 100,000 disappearances, most attributed to criminal organizations, since the start of a controversial military drug operation in December 2006.