Clandestine Graves In Tepuche, Vestiges Of Sinaloa Cartel's Internal Warfare

 "Ivan" for Borderland Beat 

Bone remains and a corpse were found in two clandestine graves located in the Tepuche syndicate, northeast of the city of Culiacán. According to the Sinaloa State Attorney General's Office (FGES), the bodies have not been identified so far.

According to official data, the skeletal remains of one person had military camouflage clothing. The Tepuche syndicate is one of the areas of operation of groups linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, and where there have been several clashes that have resulted in dozens of deaths.

Since the end of 2019, the group Los Rusos, which operates for Ismael el Mayo Zambada, and Los Ninis, operators of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán's sons, began a fight. Last week, for three days, elements of the State Attorney General's Office, the National Guard and the Army were in Tepuche searching for clandestine graves after a call reporting skeletal remains.

The previous Tuesday they located the first skeleton in a grave located next to a stream between the communities of El Fusil and El Potrero de los Ibarra.

At the site, the elements of the Prosecutor's Office observed indications that there could be other graves, but that day they suspended the search because it got dark and there was not enough light at the site.

On Wednesday they returned to the same area and in another grave they found a body in an advanced state of decomposition and more skeletal remains. On Thursday they continued with the search and in the same grave of the previous day they found more skeletal remains and clothes with military camouflage. The elements dug in several points but did not find more human remains, so on Thursday afternoon they suspended the search.

The experts of the FGE have not determined how many people the skeletal remains correspond to, and the corpse that was located on Wednesday has not been identified. In October 2020, the skull of a person, a tactical vest, two bulletproof vests and AK47 assault weapon magazines, a radio, a lamp and an IPhone cell phone were found in a property between the town of Ojo de Agua and the El Varejonal dam in the Tepuche syndicate.

Unofficially it was reported that the remains could belong to members of criminal groups operating in the area, which have been involved in violent confrontations. The National Search Commission reports that from 2006 to April of this year, 4,979 clandestine graves have been located throughout the country, in which the bodies of 8,623 people were found.

Of the total number of people, only 1,515 bodies were identified and of these, 1,050 were handed over to their relatives. Data from the State Attorney General's Office indicate that from 2010 to 2021, 433 graves were located in the state, but it does not specify the number of bodies found in them.

The graves have mainly been located in Culiacán, Ahome, El Fuerte, Navolato, Mazatlán and Guasave, although they have also been located in mountain municipalities such as Choix. In May, the National Registry of Missing Persons reported that there were 100,012 missing persons in the country.

The Undersecretary of Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas, informed that they also report 145,000 people located, of which 135 were found alive. "Progress is being made in addressing the problem, but it is insufficient. It is necessary to combat institutional inertia to stop impunity, complicity and corruption of state agents to dismantle these networks of criminal groups that have made the strategy of disappearance a daily method," he said. He mentioned that it is up to the federal government, states and municipalities to strengthen actions to prevent and prosecute this crime, but in particular, it is necessary to end impunity and that the prosecutors investigate, search, identify bodies and together with the Judiciary punish those responsible. "It is necessary to join efforts, leave behind misunderstood autonomies, put aside misgivings to work together in order to guarantee the right of every person to be sought, and access to truth, justice and the guarantee of non-repetition before these lacerating facts", he said.

RIODOCE 

Article published on June 05, 2022 in the 1010 edition of the weekly Ríodoce.