Discovery of secret crematoriums at a ranch in Mexico stirs fears of a cover-up

Along with incinerated skeletal remains, personal items at least 200 pairs of shoes were found at the ranch.

Advocates in Mexico are calling for an immediate and independent investigation after the discovery of what they’re describing as an “extermination camp” in Jalisco that cartels allegedly used to kill missing persons. Warrior Searchers of Jalisco, a group dedicated to finding disappeared people, told CNN they discovered the site last week at a ranch believed to have been a criminal group’s center of operations, where they presumably took the disappeared to be recruited and trained against their will. There, the organization found at least three crematoriums with incinerated skeletal remains hidden under a layer of earth and a brick slab. The group said they also found dozens of personal items such as clothing, hundreds of pairs of shoes, backpacks, IDs and lists of names and nicknames. Indira Navarro, a representative of Warrior Searchers, told CNN that the existence of these types of “forced recruitment and extermination centers” was “an open secret” but that they had never seen one until March 5, when the group she leads managed to enter the ranch located near Teuchitlán. They said they learned of the existence and location of this site through an anonymous tip. The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that the ranch was originally discovered in September 2024 during an operation carried out by the National Guard, in which 10 people were arrested, two kidnapped people were released, and one person was found dead.