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Mexican authorities have announced the discovery of 166 skulls in a mass grave in Veracruz. But this is not the first time that such a horrible discovery has been made in this state.
REPORT – View of mass graves in the suburbs of Veracruz (State of Veracruz), March 16, 2017. During the past six months, Mexican authorities have discovered at least 242 bodies in illegal pits discovered at the initiative of mothers whose the children are gone. in the violent state of Veracruz.
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Mexican authorities have announced the discovery of 166 skulls in a mass grave in Veracruz. But this is not the first time that such a horrible discovery has been made in this state.
FILE – View of mass graves
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Photo: ILSE HUESCA / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – View of one of the diamante ranch tombs in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed. The bodies were found by members of an army patrol in an abandoned ranch in Veracruz – a bastion of the Zetas, one of the most bloodthirsty cartels in Mexico.
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FILE – View of one of the diamante ranch tombs in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed. The bodies were found by members of one
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Photo: STR / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – View of the site where a clandestine grave was found a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, on August 17, 2017.
FILE – View of the site where a clandestine grave was found a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, on August 17, 2017.
Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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Mothers of missing sons and members of the "Solecito" search brigade are walking on August 17, 2017 in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz, in the state of Veracruz.
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Mothers of missing sons and members of the "Solecito" search brigade are walking on August 17 in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz, in the state of Veracruz.
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Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – Celia Garcia, who is looking for her missing son, Alfredo Arroyo Garcia, is photographed on the site where a clandestine grave was found a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, August 17, 2017.
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FILE – Celia Garcia, who is looking for her missing son, Alfredo Arroyo Garcia, is photographed on the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico.
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Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – A human vertebrae inside a latex glove is photographed at the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz , Mexico, August 17, 2017.
FILE – A human vertebrae inside a latex glove is photographed at the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz , Mexico, August 17, 2017.
Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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REPORT – An observer from the Mexican Human Rights Commission remains at the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico, on August 17, 2017.
REPORT – An observer from the Mexican Human Rights Commission remains at the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico, on August 17, 2017.
Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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Guadalupe Contreras, a member of the "Solecito" research brigade, indicates on the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, on August 17 2017.
Guadalupe Contreras, a member of the "Solecito" research brigade, indicates on the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, on August 17 2017.
Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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Celia Garcia, who is looking for her missing son, Alfredo Arroyo Garcia, is photographed on the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, at Mexico, August 17, 2017.
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Celia Garcia, looking for her missing son, Alfredo Arroyo Garcia, is photographed on August 17 on the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz, in Mexico.
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Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – Clothes were seen on March 19, 2017 around a common grave where 12 bodies were exhumed on Friday by the authorities of the village of El Arbolillo in Alvarado, in the state of Veracruz, at Mexico.
FILE – Clothes were seen on March 19, 2017 around a common grave where 12 bodies were exhumed on Friday by the authorities of the village of El Arbolillo in Alvarado, in the state of Veracruz, at Mexico.
Photo: ILSE HUESCA / AFP / Getty Images
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A police officer accompanied by a sniffer dog patrols the site where a clandestine grave was found a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico on August 17, 2017.
A police officer accompanied by a sniffer dog patrols the site where a clandestine grave was found a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico on August 17, 2017.
Photo: VICTORIA RAZO / AFP / Getty Images
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DOSSIER – View at Diamante Ranch in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed from a mass grave. The bodies were found by members of an army patrol in an abandoned ranch in Veracruz – a bastion of the Zetas, one of the most bloodthirsty cartels in Mexico.
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DOSSIER – View at Diamante Ranch in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed from a mass grave. The bodies were found by members of an army
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Photo: STR / AFP / Getty Images
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DOSSIER – View at Diamante Ranch in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed from a mass grave. The bodies were found by members of an army patrol in an abandoned ranch in Veracruz – a bastion of the Zetas, one of the most bloodthirsty cartels in Mexico.
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DOSSIER – View at Diamante Ranch in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed from a mass grave. The bodies were found by members of an army
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Photo: STR / AFP / Getty Images
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REPORT – Relatives of Missing Persons and Forensic Experts met on 16 March 2017 near mass graves on the outskirts of Veracruz, Veracruz State, Mexico. At least 242 bodies were found at the initiative of relatives in the violent state of Veracruz.
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REPORT – Relatives of Missing Persons and Forensic Experts met on 16 March 2017 near mass graves on the outskirts of Veracruz, Veracruz State, Mexico. At least 242 bodies were found at the initiative of
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Photo: SERGIO HERNANDEZ / AFP / Getty Images
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REPORT – A volunteer researcher searches the land at a clandestine grave in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico, on Thursday, March 30, 2017. Colectivo Solecito researchers, who have so far found 253 remains, have redoubled efforts after receiving a tip that hundreds of bodies can be buried there. (AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
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FILE – A volunteer researcher searches the earth in a clandestine shrine in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico on Thursday, March 30, 2017. Researchers at Colectivo Solecito, who
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Photo: Felix Marquez / AP
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FILE – A makeshift cross marks a mass grave where the remains of government worker Pedro Huesca, who was reported missing in April 2013, were found on a clandestine grave in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, at Mexico, Thursday, March 30, 2017. Volunteer researchers from Colectivo Solecito, who have so far found 253 sets of remains, have redoubled their efforts after receiving advice that hundreds of bodies could be buried there. (AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
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FILE – A makeshift cross marks a common grave where the remains of government worker Pedro Huesca, who disappeared in April 2013, were found on a clandestine grave in Colinas de Santa Fe, Mexico.
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Photo: Felix Marquez / AP
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FILE – Members of the "Solecito" search brigade take a break near their working tools on the site where a clandestine grave was found a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz , Mexico, August 17, 2017.
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FILE – Members of the "Solecito" search brigade take a break from their working tools on the site where a clandestine grave was discovered a year ago in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the state of Veracruz , in Mexico.
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Photo: Contributor AFP / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – View of personal belongings found inside the Diamante Ranch in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed from a common grave. The bodies were found by members of an army patrol in an abandoned ranch in Veracruz – a bastion of the Zetas, one of the most bloodthirsty cartels in Mexico.
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FILE – View of personal belongings found inside the Diamante Ranch in Nopaltepec, Veracruz State, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, where the bodies of at least 28 people were exhumed from a common grave. the
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Photo: STR / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – Two forensic vehicles arrive on a plot of the community of Acayucan, where ten bodies were found in an illegal grave in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, on February 8, 2012. The discovery was made following statements the drug cartel los Zetas. Since December 2006, more than 40,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico, when President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers and federal police to fight organized crime.
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REPORT – Two medico-legal vehicles arrive in a field in the community of Acayucan where ten bodies were found in an illegal grave in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, on February 8, 2012. The discovery was made as a result
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Photo: LUCAS CASTRO / AFP / Getty Images
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FILE – In this photo of July 2, 2017, a cemetery employee prepares a new grave next to which six members of the Martinez family are buried in Coatzacoalcos, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. All died in the house where they washed cars for $ 1 each. (AP Photo / Rebecca Blackwell)
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FILE – In this photo of July 2, 2017, a cemetery employee prepares a new grave next to which six members of the Martinez family are buried in Coatzacoalcos, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. All died in the house where they
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Photo: Rebecca Blackwell / AP
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FILE – In this photo of April 11, 2015, special investigators keep bodies found in mass graves in a forested area known as Colinas de Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico. The Veracruz State Chief Prosecutor, Jorge Winckler, said the clandestine pits appeared to contain remains of cartel victims killed years ago. (AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
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FILE – In this photo of April 11, 2015, special investigators keep bodies found in mass graves in a forested area known as Colinas de Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico. The summit of Veracruz
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Photo: Felix Marquez / AP
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FILE – A crime ring organized by the Prosecutor's Office of Veracruz marks the boundaries of a land containing clandestine pits in Colinas de Santa Fe, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, Thursday, March 30, 2017. Researchers Colectivo Solecito found until here found 253 sets of remains, redoubled efforts after receiving advice that hundreds of other bodies can be buried there. (AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
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FILE – A crime ring organized by the Veracruz prosecutor's office marks the boundaries of a plot of clandestine pits in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz State, Mexico, on Thursday (March 30th).
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Photo: Felix Marquez / AP
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FILE – This aerial image shows the area known as Colinas de Santa Fe where the authorities are working to find the remains of people buried in mass graves on the outskirts of the city of Veracruz, Mexico, on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Prosecutors said on Tuesday that they had been found in early 2017 in what appears to be a mass burial place of the drug cartel in this forested area on the outskirts of the city of Veracruz. (AP Photo / Jonathan Estudillo)
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FILE – This aerial image shows the area known as Colinas de Santa Fe where the authorities are working to find the remains of people buried in mass graves on the outskirts of the city of Veracruz, Mexico, Wednesday,
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Photo: Jonathan Estudillo / AP
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FILE – In this photo of April 11, 2015, a federal police officer goes to an area known as Colinas de Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico. More than 250 skulls were found in early 2017 in what appears to be a mass drug cartel cemetery in this forested area on the outskirts of the city of Veracruz, prosecutors said Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
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FILE – In this photo of April 11, 2015, a federal police officer goes to an area known as Colinas de Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico. More than 250 skulls were found in early 2017
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Photo: Felix Marquez / AP
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FILE – In this photo of April 11, 2015, federal police and state police, as well as expert investigators enter an area known as Colinas de Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico. More than 250 skulls were found in early 2017 in what appears to be a mass drug cartel cemetery in this forested area on the outskirts of the city of Veracruz, prosecutors said Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
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FILE – In this photo of April 11, 2015, federal police and state police, as well as expert investigators enter an area known as Colinas de Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico. More than 250 skulls were found in
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Photo: Felix Marquez / AP
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Photo: ILSE HUESCA / AFP / Getty Images
Mexican authorities have announced the discovery of 166 skulls in a mass grave in Veracruz. But this is not the first time that such a horrible discovery has been made in this state.
REPORT – View of mass graves in the suburbs of Veracruz (State of Veracruz), March 16, 2017. During the past six months, Mexican authorities have discovered at least 242 bodies in illegal pits discovered at the initiative of mothers whose the children are gone. in the violent state of Veracruz.
Less
Mexican authorities have announced the discovery of 166 skulls in a mass grave in Veracruz. But this is not the first time that such a horrible discovery has been made in this state.
FILE – View of mass graves
… more
Photo: ILSE HUESCA / AFP / Getty Images
Mexican prosecutors find 166 skulls in mass graves
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Investigators said Thursday they found 166 skulls in clandestine burial pits in the state of Veracruz, one of the largest mass graves ever discovered in Mexico.
Veracruz prosecutor Jorge Winckler said that for security reasons he would not reveal the location of the site.
Mexican drug cartels frequently use clandestine pits to get rid of their victims.
Winckler said the bodies were buried at least two years ago and did not rule out finding more remains. He said the investigators found 114 identity cards on the ground, which contained about 32 funeral pits.
The clothes, personal possession and other parts of the skeleton were also recovered, but the investigators focused on the skulls to count, because each one corresponds to a person.
Veracruz has been the scene of bloody battles between the Zetas and Jalisco drug cartels, but the state has also suffered waves of kidnappings and extortion.
Winckler said the prosecutors had found the land after a witness told them that "hundreds of bodies" had been buried there.
Investigators used drones, probes and a ground penetrating radar to locate the pits and began digging about a month ago.
Winckler said groups of relatives of missing persons who are conducting their own gravesearch have not been invited to participate in this one to keep the secret. He said that they would receive pictures of objects found on the site to try to identify the remains.
Missing activist Lucia Diaz, whose group Colectivo Solecito has led police to other burial sites in the past, said she did not trust the announcement.
"We do not trust the work they do, we have a lot of reasons," said Diaz, noting that in the past, investigators searched too quickly and pulled out bodies in pieces. "In this case, they removed 166 bodies in a month – it could not be done properly, it is impossible, too fast."
Diaz joined the effort after his own son, Guillermo Lagunes Diaz, was abducted from his home in 2013. No trace of him was found.
She said the prosecutors had illegally excluded the families of the missing from the last attempt. "He (Winckler) went against the law because the law stipulates that families have the right to participate now".
Maria de Lourdes Calvo Rosales, who was looking for her son Jonatten Celma Rosales since he was abducted with his girlfriend in July 2013, said the news of the newly discovered tomb "gives hope".
"Next week, they are waiting for us in forensic medicine to examine the cases and identity papers that have been found," she said.
Elle a déclaré que les autorités ont invité tous les collectifs de familles de l'État à la recherche d'êtres chers disparus, y compris le réseau connu sous le nom de Veracruz Mothers Network, à se rendre dans la capitale de l'État, Xalapa.
Son fils avait 25 ans et travaillait dans le commerce extérieur lorsque quatre hommes armés l'ont enlevé, lui et sa petite amie, à leur domicile, à six rues du domicile de la mère. Lorsqu'elle l'a signalé, les autorités lui ont dit qu'elle devait attendre 72 heures. Plus tard, ils l'ont écartée, disant que le couple s'était enfui, a-t-elle dit.
Quatre jours après leur prise, elle a reçu un appel demandant une rançon et l'a avertie de ne pas aller voir les autorités. Elle a payé une fraction de celle-ci pendant cinq secondes au téléphone avec quelqu'un qui aurait pu être son fils. C'était juste assez longtemps pour l'entendre dire "Maman", puis la ligne coupée. Elle n'a plus eu de ses nouvelles.
Ce n’était pas la première fois qu’une personne ayant une connaissance approfondie des charniers avait révélé son emplacement.
En 2016 et 2017, les enquêteurs de Veracruz ont trouvé 253 crânes et corps dans des fosses funéraires à l'extérieur de la capitale, après que des proches de personnes portées disparues ont déclaré avoir reçu une carte dessinée à la main.
En 2011, la police a trouvé 236 corps dans des fosses funéraires dans la capitale du nord de l'État de Durango, également appelée Durango.
Au total, 193 cadavres ont été trouvés dans la ville de San Fernando, dans l'État de Tamaulipas, au nord de Veracruz. Les responsables disent que la plupart d’entre eux étaient des migrants mexicains se rendant aux États-Unis et enlevés par des autobus et tués par le cartel de Zetas.
