A pit with 119 remains of dismembered victims found in Mexico

Mexican authorities have announced the discovery of at least 44 bodies in 119 bags in a well in La Primavera neighborhood, in Zapopán, in the state of Jalisco, in western Mexico. in the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

The Institute of Forensic Sciences of Jalisco (IJCF) explained that there were only nine full bodies, including seven men and two women, reports the newspaper La Jornada. They also have 17 other incomplete bodies, as well as nine heads and nine torsos that apparently do not correspond to the same people. There are still 194 pieces to badyze. The number of victims should increase in the next hours.

Officers were alerted after several neighbors perceived a strong house odor. Jalisco is one of the most violent states in Mexico. Most deaths are related to organized crime, especially drug trafficking.

The first sign was a multitude of flies from an abandoned farm on the outskirts of La Primavera. On the site is a well of about 20 meters deep from which emanates a deep foul odor. Neighbors thought that a cow had fallen. But it was not an animal that was at the bottom of the well, human remains that were thrown for several months in garbage bags.

The authorities have recovered 119 bags. Macedonio Tamez Guajardo, coordinator of the Jalisco Security Cabinet, said the experts "armed nine full bodies and 16 incomplete bodies". But with the rest of the parties, it was not possible to define the number of people to whom they belong. "There are heads, torsos, extremes and others," adds the manager. Due to the state in which the remains were found, the identification of the victims must be carried out with the help of DNA testing, a process that may take several months to recognize the Attorney General's office. .

Organizations like United Families for Our Disappeared Jalisco (Fundej) believe that it is the largest underground grave located in this state. The media in Jalisco call the site "the well of horrors". The place of discovery is on a plot of about four hectares, surrounded by a wall of adobe. In the enclosure of the earth, there is a half-built stable and a few meters away is the well where the human remains were thrown. The site, abandoned for several years as its neighbors tell reporters, is located on the road to the Bosque de la Primavera, the largest green area in the metropolitan area of ​​Guadalajara, a city of about five million inhabitants.

The search for bags containing human remains lasted a week. Part of the wall of the property was demolished and, in fact, the neighbors crossed the property to reach the city or graze cows. A local journalist told the BBC that for several days there was "like a plague of flies" around the ground. Also a nauseating odor that worsened with the rains of early September. On September 3, firefighters and police from Zapopán Municipality found the first bags containing human remains.

In recent years, in the Spring Forest, several clandestine graves have been discovered, as well as laboratories where drugs, such as crystal or amphetamines, were manufactured. Although some neighborhoods have been built in its surroundings, there are wooded areas where it is dangerous to approach. Only this year, 15 clandestine tombs were discovered in Jalisco. In late March and April, during forest fires in the area, firefighters met with armed people who shut the road.

But until now, no discovery like that of the well has occurred. Specialists see this new clandestine grave as a sign of renewed violence in Jalisco. "It's a big iconic monster of impunity and inefficient authorities," said BBC spokesman Francisco Jiménez Reynoso, a researcher at the University's Center for Social Sciences and Humanities. University of Guadalajara. "All the findings are due to citizens' complaints, as was the case in this case. The common denominator is that people smell bad in their environment, there are nauseating smells, they denounce the authorities and it is at that time that they go to these places. In recent years, more than 8,000 people have disappeared in Jalisco.

An internal conflict in the cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) raises a wave of increasing violence. The juniors contest the control of the founder, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho". The internal war is one of the reasons for the wave of homicides and disappearances recognized by the authorities. Civil organizations report low police effectiveness. But they also warn that in some cases, violence is a response to the official fight against organized crime. In the meantime, organizations seeking missing persons have asked the federal government to send experts to La Primavera. "Do not leave us alone," says Fundej in a statement. "The heart in our hands, we ask for help."