Authorities in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas have confirmed the discovery of two separate locations used by cartel gunmen to kill and incinerate the remains of their victims. Cartel crematoriums and clandestine gravesites have become almost commonplace in various parts of Mexico as criminal organizations try to avoid attention by not leaving bodies behind. The disposal of remains also allows government officials to hide the levels of violence by filing most cases as missing persons instead of murders or kidnappings.
This week, a group of activists with the Love for the Dissapeared Collective received information about two separate locations where human remains could be found. The group had a police and military escort go with them to the locations and confirmed the discovery of human remains. One of the locations is along the Reynosa-Matamoros highway, while the other one is in the La Sierrita rural community in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
During the search, the activist found seven drums believed to have been used to incinerate victims. The group also found a wall full of bullet holes that may have been used for executions by cartel gunmen.
The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office took over the case and began documenting the crime scenes and collecting the human remains.
The gruesome discovery and several other similar ones in recent months come at a time when most of the state of Tamaulipas is immersed in a series of turf wars between rival criminal organizations. The Tamaulipas government has been largely ineffective in stopping the violence. Political rivals and pundits claim the inability to stop the violence is not due to incompetence but to the complicity of state and federal officials who rely on cartel bribes and their political support.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” and “J.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.