Jalisco extermination camp
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| Jalisco extermination camp | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Type | Concentration camp Training compound |
| Location | Izaguirre Ranch Teuchitlán, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Coordinates | 20°39′24″N 103°48′59″W / 20.656761°N 103.816292°W |
The Jalisco extermination camp was a concentration and recruitment camp operated by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel at Izaguirre Ranch, located in the municipality of Teuchitlán in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The camp was discovered on 5 March 2025 by a group searching for missing persons.[1]
The evidence found includes hundreds of pieces of clothing and shoes, three crematoriums containing charred bones, and notes listing the nicknames of individuals who had been at the site.
Life in the camp
[edit]Arrival
[edit]Recruiters allegedly posted fake job advertisements on social media to attract applicants. These listings usually offered security guard roles with weekly salaries ranging from MX$4,000 to MX$12,000 (around US$200 to US$600). Applicants were instructed to gather at designated bus terminals, where they were then transported to Izaguirre Ranch.[2][3] While some listings promoted positions within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, many survivors reported that they were unaware of the group's involvement until their arrival at the ranch.[4][5]
Upon arrival at Izaguirre Ranch, applicants were required to surrender all their belongings, including their phones, effectively cutting off their communication with the outside world.[2]
Training
[edit]Upon completing their training, recruits were offered positions within the organization based on their aptitudes. They were then deployed to different states to strengthen the cartel's operations.[2]
Discovery
[edit]On 20 September 2024, the National Guard and the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office raided Izaguirre Ranch, securing the property and rescuing two kidnapped individuals. Authorities also arrested ten people and seized various firearms; however, no mention was made of a training camp, crematoriums, mass graves, or human remains.[6][7]
Following an anonymous tip about a possible mass grave on the ranch, the Buscadores Guerreros de Jalisco Collective, an activist group dedicated to searching for missing persons, arrived at the site on 5 March 2025 to investigate. While searching the site, the group discovered approximately 200 pairs of shoes, hundreds of clothing items, three makeshift crematoriums, and charred human remains.[1][8]
Reactions
[edit]Domestic
[edit]
On 10 March, President Claudia Sheinbaum described the findings as "terrible" and stated that both the governor of Jalisco and the federal Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection were addressing the case.[9]
On the afternoon of 15 March, civic organizations and citizens held vigils in at least 24 public squares to protest and demand justice.
On 17 March, President of the Senate Gerardo Fernández Noroña downplayed the findings, suggesting that the evidence—referring to 200 pairs of shoes—might or might not be authentic and that they did not necessarily indicate a case of forced disappearances. He accused the media and the opposition of orchestrating a "vile and infamous coup campaign" against Sheinbaum's government and Morena regarding the case.[10]
On 20 March, Senator Marko Cortés (PAN) proposed the creation of an interdisciplinary team of national and international experts to investigate the events at Izaguirre Ranch. However, the Senate session was adjourned prematurely after senators from Morena, the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), and the Labor Party (PT), led by Senator Adán Augusto López (Morena), walked out.[11] On 25 March, the motion failed in a 31–61 vote.[12]
International
[edit]The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a press release on 27 March 2025 in which it called on Mexico to step up its efforts to investigate the site, identify the victims and punish those responsible, describing the state's search efforts as "deficient".[13]
U.S. Republican congressman Riley Moore compared the situation to "something we had previously only associated with Nazi death camps like Auschwitz".[14]
Investigations
[edit]State investigation
[edit]Following the seizure of Izaguirre Ranch by the National Guard and the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office on 20 September 2024, the latter launched an investigation into the site after the Attorney General's Office (FGR) declined to take over the case. Notably, the investigation included charges of firearm possession and enforced disappearance but did not address organized crime, a charge that falls outside the jurisdiction of state prosecutors and can only be investigated by the FGR.[15]
After search collectives discovered Izaguirre Ranch, Attorney General Alejandro Gertz raised concerns about irregularities in the state’s investigation on 19 March, which included the failure to track or identify fingerprints at the scene, improper recording and identification of evidence such as abandoned clothing and footwear, the failure to conduct a full site inspection, inadequate processing of vehicles—three of which were later identified as stolen—and the lack of immediate involvement by the Attorney General's Office (FGR) for crimes related to high-caliber firearms or organized crime. Gertz also noted that, six months later, the forensic services in Jalisco still lacked a definitive report establishing the age and identity of the remains found.[16][17]
On the same day, Gertz accused the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office of failing to send all relevant forensic reports and documents to the FGR, delaying the process of transferring the case.[16] The following day, the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office complied, sending all investigation files to the FGR.[15][18]
Federal investigation
[edit]On 24 March 2025, Secretary of Security Omar García Harfuch, announced the arrest of José Gregorio Lastra Hermida, also known as "El Comandante Lastra," an alleged leader within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.[19] Lastra was apprehended in Mexico City and was accused of overseeing forced recruitment and training operations at Izaguirre Ranch between May 2024 to March 2025.[20] According to authorities, he abducted individuals to train them for criminal activities; those who resisted or attempted to escape were reportedly tortured or killed. Authorities also dismantled 39 websites allegedly used by the CJNG to recruit individuals under false pretenses.[21]
In April 2025, the Attorney General of Mexico, Alejandro Gertz Manero, concluded that the ranch was used as a recruitment site, not an extermination site, stating that executions had not been carried out systematically.[22] Authorities ruled out the existence of cremation facilities at the site, with Gertz stating that the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) conducted soil, rock, and construction material analyses in the area, finding no evidence of temperatures reaching 200°C; cremation requires approximately 800°C.[23][24]
On 3 May 2025, José Murguía Santiago, the mayor of Teuchitlán, was arrested on charges of organized crime and forced disappearance.[25] The Attorney General's Office alleged that he was aware of the ranch's existence, received monthly payments of MX$70,000, and used municipal resources to assist in the ranch's operation.[26]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Ovens and bone fragments - BBC visits Mexican cartel 'extermination' site". BBC. 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ a b c "Rancho Izaguirre Era Centro de Adiestramiento, No de Exterminio, Señala García Harfuch". N+ (in Spanish). 2025-03-24. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "El rancho Izaguirre es una prueba del reclutamiento forzado". SinEmbargo MX | Periodismo digital con rigor. (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ Martinez, Rubi (2025-03-18). "Presunto sobreviviente del rancho Izaguirre revela cuánto les pagaban en el campo de adiestramiento de Teuchitlán". infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "Sobrevivientes del rancho Izaguirre narran cómo los reclutaron". Telemundo McAllen (40) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "Discovery of bones and shoes at suspected cartel "extermination center" sparks protests in Mexico - CBS News". CBS News. 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ Zúñiga, Alejandra (2025-03-13). "Así fue la primera incautación del Rancho Izaguirre en 2024, la reportó la Guardia Nacional en redes sociales". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ "Descubren campo de exterminio del narco en Jalisco: un infierno de violencia y muerte". MVS Noticias (in Spanish). 2025-03-10. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ Cano, Joel (2025-03-10). "Harfuch y FGR están en contacto con Pablo Lemus por crematorio clandestino hallado en Teuchitlán, Jalisco: Sheinbaum" (in Spanish). Infobae. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "Noroña cuestiona las evidencias del Rancho en Teuchitlán: '¿Son zapatos de desaparecidos?'". El Financiero (in Spanish). 2025-03-18. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "Morena revienta sesión del Senado para evitar que oposición impulsara comisión internacional para investigar Teuchitlán". LatinUS (in Spanish). 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ Rodríguez, Luis Carlos; Gamboa, Víctor. "Morena rechaza crear comisión especial para investigar el caso Teuchitlán; oposición pide intervención internacional". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "IACHR calls on Mexican State to increase efforts to investigate events and identify human remains found in Teuchitlán, Jalisco". Press Releases. IACHR. 27 March 2025.
- ^ "Tras hallazgo de fosas en México, legislador de EE.UU. dice que "Trump tenía razón" al designar a cárteles como terroristas". CNN (in Spanish). 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ a b Cid, Alejandro Santos (2025-03-25). "La Fiscalía General toma el control de la investigación de Teuchitlán tras semanas de choques con la de Jalisco". El País México (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ a b Guillén, Beatriz (2025-03-19). "Gertz Manero señala a la Fiscalía de Jalisco por haber dejado seis meses sin analizar el rancho de Teuchitlán". El País México (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "Caso Teuchitlán: FGR Confirma Restos Humanos en el Rancho y Señala Omisiones de Autoridad Local". N+ (in Spanish). 2025-03-19. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "(FOTO) El documento que la Fiscalía de Jalisco entregó a la FGR con toda la información sobre Teuchitlán". PolíticoMX (in Spanish). 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ Martínez, Raúl Flores (2025-03-22). "Cae en CDMX encargado de reclutamiento y adiestramiento para el CJNG". Excélsior (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "'El Lastra' dejó la policía para unirse a las filas del CJNG; reclutaba jóvenes por Tik tok". El Financiero (in Spanish). 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ Breña, Carmen Morán (2025-03-24). "Harfuch confirma torturas, asesinatos y reclutamiento por internet en Teuchitlán". El País México (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ Sánchez, Fabiola (29 April 2025). "Mexico's attorney general says ranch was used for cartel training, but no mass graves found". Border Report. Mexico City. Associated Press. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
- ^ "Rancho en Teuchitlán sí era centro de adiestramiento, pero no crematorio, afirma Gertz Manero". El Financiero (in Spanish). 2025-04-29. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "No hay pruebas de que rancho Izaguirre en Teuchitlán, Jalisco, operara como crematorio, era centro de adiestramiento: FGR". Animal Politico (in Spanish). 2025-04-29. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "Mexican mayor arrested in probe of alleged drug cartel ranch: govt source". France 24. 4 May 2025. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
- ^ "Dictan prisión preventiva a José Murguía Santiago, alcalde de Teuchitlán, Jalisco, por rancho Izaguirre". Azteca Noticias (in Spanish). 2025-05-05. Retrieved 2025-05-06.