Working for almost two weeks, personnel from Jalisco’s Forensic Sciences Institute have unearthed 30 bodies stuffed into around 70 plastic bags and buried in a mass grave in the El Zapote neighborhood of Tlajomulco, on the outskirts of Guadalajara.
Nine of the corpses – 24 male and six female – have already been identified, according to the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE). Eight of the deceased had been reported as missing and an investigation/case file opened regarding their disappearance, the Special Prosecutor’s office for Disappeared Persons (Fiscalía Especializada en Personas Desaparecidas) said. The eight victims had last been seen by family members in either September or October.
State police were alerted to the mass grave after they raided a warehouse in Toluquilla on November 7 and found eight people being held there against their will. During the raid, authorities arrested 15 people, including two Colombian citizens and three minors. The FGE has released no details on whether the captives were related to organized crime in any way.
In September, 130 bags containing body parts of at least 30 victims were unearthed in the Primavera Forest outside Guadalajara.