Michoacan: Discovery Of Ovens Used To Incinerate Bodies

Borderland Beat

Timely in view of Tuta's drivel video production.....Paz, Chivis

Impacto El Diario:

The Mexican army dismantled a camp that was used for the killing, burning and burial of victims, according to military reports. The military report said that in place, military personnel found at least six mass graves containing bodies dismembered and incinerated.

It was reported that during patrols carried out by soldiers, they discovered the site where suspected criminals were operating.  There were three rustic ovens and fires that were used for the incineration of bodies, also found were six clandestine graves with remains humans.

Identity of the victims and their partial identification and gender is unknown due to the condition in which the remains were found, he said. This finding apparently led to the capture of two alleged extortionists who were in possession of   cellphones containing pictures and videos of torture, mutilation and burning of people.

Those arrested were identified as Juan Carlos Rodriguez Chavez nicknamed "El Zarco" and Jose Manuel Valencia Barragan "The Vampire", who were arrested on 16 August.

 

InSight Crime Analysis:

Michoacan is disputed territory for three of Mexico's main criminal organizations: the remnants of the Familia Michoacana, their offshoot the Knights Templar (Caballeros Templarios), and the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (CJNG). Michoacan has been the scene of some particularly gruesome acts of violence, such as the tossing of five severed heads into a nightclub in 2006, the killing of 12 federal police officers in 2009, and the torture and murder of two young paramedics in June this year.

The use of makeshift ovens to burn the bodies of victims was a tactic used by Colombian paramilitary groups in the early 2000s. The former leader of the Catatumbo block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), Ivan Laverde Zapata, alias “El Iguano,” confessed that he ordered the construction of cremation furnaces to avoid the discovery of mass graves by authorities. He admitted to burning the bodies of over 100 people over the course of several years in Norte de Santander province. Verdad Abierta reported that the practice was also used by paramilitaries in Antioquia to eliminate evidence following executions.

See AJ's Post of this story at Borderland Beat Forum

Insight Crime's full article HERE