50 Bodies Discovered in Mexican Cartel Mass Graves

An ongoing investigation into a drug cartel stash house in the Mexican state of Jalisco led to the discovery of 50 bodies in one property. Since November, authorities in Jalisco reported a total of 81 bodies found on two ranches and arrested 15 gunmen in connection with the ongoing cartel violence in the area.

The case began in early November when Mexican authorities raided a warehouse in the town of San Pedro Tlaquepaque and arrested 15 gunmen, Mexico’s Milenio reported. Based on the statements from the suspects, authorities obtained the location of three properties that cartel gunmen had been using to dispose of bodies.

On November 22, authorities began searching the second warehouse in the El Mirador neighborhood in the city of Tlajomulco. Teams of forensic researchers unearthed a total of 50 bodies buried by cartel members in that property. Authorities could not immediately determine how many of the victims were men and how many women.

In the first warehouse, located in the El Zapote neighborhood, authorities searched for several days and ended their efforts in late November. During that period, officials found a total of 31 bodies. According to Mexico’s Milenio, the victims were six women and 25 men. Investigators obtained the location of a third property. A search of that property is still pending.

The 81 bodies found in clandestine graves in Jalisco comes at a time when other criminal organizations are trying to take control of the region from Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. As Breitbart Texas reported, the ongoing turf war led to the discovery of numerous mass graves and clandestine sites where cartel gunmen dumped the remains of dozens of victims. Officials found some of the clandestine graves inside residential homes. They found others in ranches, and in some cases, gunmen dumped bodies in rivers and other bodies of water.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.