Mexican police find 45 bags of human remains. Authorities in Mexico discovered 45 bags containing human remains in a ravine near the western city of Guadalajara.
When the bodies were discovered, officials were looking for seven young call centre workers who had gone missing the previous week.
As Mexican police find 45 bags of human remains, the bodies include both men and women, and the total number of bodies is unknown.
Because of the difficult terrain and poor lighting, the search is expected to last several days.
The state prosecutor’s office for the western state of Jalisco said in a statement that, after receiving a tip, they began searching at the Mirador del Bosque ravine, where they discovered the bags containing body parts.
To recover the remains, firefighters and civil defence were collaborating with police and a helicopter crew.
The first bag was discovered on Tuesday, but due to the difficult terrain and lack of sunlight, the investigation was reopened on Wednesday and will continue until all remains are discovered, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Officials stated that they would continue to work to determine the number of dead bodies, who they belonged to, and what caused their deaths.
It also stated that it would continue to investigate the whereabouts of the seven people reported missing.
Although it has not been determined how the bodies ended up in the ravine, disappearance crimes are relatively common in Mexico.
According to government estimates, more than 100,000 people are missing, with many of them victims of organized crime. Perpetrators are almost never punished.
According to government data, many people have gone missing since 2007, when then-President Felipe Calderón declared a “war on drugs.”
Three-quarters of those reported missing were men, and one-fifth were under the age of 18 when they went missing.
Families of the missing say the government isn’t doing enough to find them and that officials are unconcerned when they report their loved ones missing.
The United Nations has described it as “an enormous human tragedy.”
Jalisco is the epicentre of a violent drug war, and among the most powerful groups operating there are the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) and their rival, Nueva Plaza, which split from the CJNG in 2017, sparking violence throughout Guadalajara, the state capital.
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