CJNG Video Attempts to Distance Themselves from Izaguirre Ranch Cremations

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

In a four minute video posted to social media; alleged members of the CJNG rejected the allegations that the Izaguirre Ranch, in Teuchitlán, had functioned as a clandestine extermination center, forced recruitment camp and/or crematorium. The video also accused the search groups and media of manipulating the facts surrounding the ranch and activities there.

In the message, the alleged spokesperson recalled that federal forces raided secured the property on September 18, 2024, as a result of a pursuit that ended with the release of two prisoners. The property was then protected and analyzed according to them, "without finding any clues or evidence of the extermination camp, and they are closing the investigation, considering everything closed."

Regarding the most recent discovery made on March 8, 2025, they point out that "a group of searching mothers, supported by someone and with information of dubious origin, completely contradicts the evidence found six months earlier by federal agents."

"They're reporting the discovery of an extermination camp, a forced recruitment camp where they held more than 250 kidnapped people and an equal number of kidnappers. What did they find? How much did they find? They found nothing," the armed man shouts.

"With what authority did the group of search mothers intervene or on what grounds did they enter a secured property? Their duty was to notify the competent authority, and what they did was plant and create a horror film to cause a stir on social media. What are they hiding? Who is backing them? Why are they trying to harm the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel with lies and fabricated, baseless stories?" he asserts.

The spokesperson acknowledged that they do belong to organized crime, but emphasized that they abide by internal "codes." He affirmed that they are also fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands, and that they understand the pain of the families of missing persons. However, he considered that this is not the appropriate way to address the situation or to "distort reality."

Referring to the security situation in the region, he maintained that "Jalisco is calm," with no kidnappings or homicides in rural communities, and questioned whether the government is trying to create a scenario like that in Sinaloa, where, he said, "social peace has been broken and many people have had to emigrate to live in safe conditions."

He also expressed an apology for displaying weapons in the video, and asserted that it was "not intended to intimidate," but rather to "refute the false testimonies" that, according to him, have been spread against the cartel led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho."

Regarding the allegations of forced recruitment, he ironically discussed the logic behind such claims and asked if he and his companions were considered kidnapped, arguing that no one would hand a weapon to someone deprived of their liberty.

He concluded his message by asserting his continued involvement in the criminal group out of conviction, and asserted that as a society, "we have lost our values ​​and principles. We are organized crime," he said, "but you seek to cause astonishment and panic with something that happens every day." He asserted that they serve the people and remain with them.

Journalists, which were being called out for amplifying and manipulating facts responded to the video calling it, "an attempt to discredit the mothers who are searching, a threat to the mothers who are searching, and confirmation of the drug peace in Jalisco. There are all kinds of interpretations of this very strange CJNG video about Teuchitlán," journalist Óscar Balderas said on social media.

The search group maintains that the ranch was allegedly used by a criminal group as a forced recruitment center, where young people recruited through deception were forced to train and, in some cases, murdered. According to witness accounts, the disappearances were linked to false job offers and forced recruitment.

The empty land plot in 2011.

The ranch being developed around 2014.

Land Taken by Force in 2012

One of the possible reasons the ranch is just now being exposed and searched after the raid on the camp last year is that it just recently showed up in land registry paperwork in the beginning of 2025. According to the previous and last registered owner of the land, it was taken from his family by force over a decade ago and largely forgotten about until the local government reached him to pay property taxes.

In news interviews 'Don Genaro Ramírez' is the name given to the former the owner of the plot to protect his identity.

In 2012, a pair of men arrived at the home of 'Don Genaro,' where he, his wife and his daughter were. The CJNG threatened to harm the owner's daughter if he didn't sell the plot of land where the extermination camp would later be located. 

According to the story widely known by the residents of La Estanzuela de Teuchitlán, one of the men took the young woman and warned that if they did not do business with them they would harm her.

“Don Genaro says that the men who spoke to him were not armed, but there was no need to be, judging by the manner and authority with which they spoke to him,” said one of the locals.

Ranch Registered in 2025

Journalist Esteban David Rodríguez points out that it was not until this year that 'Don Genaro' and his family were contacted about the property, because the city council required the payment of the property tax for the plot. This meant one thing: the ranch had passed to the status of full ownership, in other words, it became private property. 

The property appeared registered as private property in the Teuchitlán municipal land registry, with no information about who completed the paperwork, residents say. Although someone had to have registered it in the land registry of the Teuchitlán city council, it was not Don Genaro or any members of his family.

The journalist points out that for this procedure to be carried out, approval must be obtained from the communal land assembly, a formal application must be submitted to the Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development and the National Agrarian Registry.

Sheinbaum's Actions Against Missing Persons

Following the Teuchitlán camp news in Jalisco, President Claudia Sheinbaum outlined six reform initiatives, including:

• Strengthening the National Search Commission
• Equating the crime of disappearance with kidnapping
• Creating a single database of forensic information
• Incorporating immediate investigative searches without 72 hour waiting period

Between October 2023 and March 2025, collectives have reported at least six similar sites in Jalisco, allegedly used by criminal groups for recruitment and elimination purposes.

Jalisco is the state with the most missing persons; 14,963 out of a national total of 124,059, according to official figures. Nationally, more than 72,000 bodies remain unidentified in forensic services.

In 2023, Jalisco state reported 137,100 crimes, with only 798 prosecutors investigating them.

Sources Michelle Rivera, EmeEqui, Infobae

Categories: CJNG, Jalisco