Mass Kidnapping, Killing in Mexico Linked to Cartel Fraud Operation

A mass kidnapping in Mexico that led to the murder of a U.S. citizen from Arizona is believed to be linked to a cartel fraud operation based out of a call center in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

Mexican authorities released information little by little about the case that began in late May when at least eight individuals who worked at a call center in the city of Zapopan, Jalisco, went missing. Top Mexican authorities initially claimed that the call center was tied to criminal activity

As Breitbart Texas reported, Carlos David Valladolid Hernandez, one of the victims in the case, was originally born in Arizona but had moved to Jalisco with relatives. The other victims, including Valladolid’s sister Itzel Valladolid, were all Mexican nationals.

Since the disappearance, authorities in Jalisco began a series of searches and discovered numerous clandestine gravesites, including one with more than 45 bags of human remains, Breitbart Texas reported. Since then, authorities in Jalisco revealed that the bags found in the Mirador neighborhood did contain human remains that matched those from the kidnapping victims.

The most recent information points to the victims being killed for trying to quit working at the call center. Mexico’s Milenio reported that the call center was being used for a time-share fraud operation run by individuals tied to Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). In their report, Milenio revealed that the criminal organization had diversified its criminal operations and begun mimicking racketeering tactics once used by more traditional mafias. The call center was reportedly being used in a fraud involving the buying and selling of timeshares. The victims had reportedly been trying to leave the call center, and CJNG is believed to have killed them for it, Milenio reported.

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 English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “C.P. Mireles” from Tamaulipas.