A search for eight people reported missing last week found at least 45 bags of human remains in a canyon in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.
“Forty-five bags of remains of both men and women have been taken away,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The gruesome discovery was made Tuesday at the bottom of a 40-meter ravine in the municipality of Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, a major industrial center.
Authorities had launched a search for two women and six men, all in their 30s, who had been reported missing since about May 20.
The missing persons reports had been made for each individually on different days, but detectives found that they all worked in the same call center.
Forensic experts on Tuesday carried several bags of human remains from the bottom of a canyon in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.
A helicopter retrieves bags filled with human remains from the bottom of a canyon in Jalisco, Mexico, on Tuesday
The call center was located in the same area where the human remains were found.
Forensic experts have yet to determine the number of victims or their identities.
Initial investigations suggested the call center may have been involved in illegal activity, and local media reported that authorities found marijuana, a cloth and a cleaning rag with obvious blood stains, as well as documents about possible commercial activity.
But relatives of the missing accused authorities of portraying the victims as criminals.
In recent years, human remains have been found in bags or unmarked graves in several parts of Jalisco.
In 2021, about 70 bags containing the remains of 11 people were found in Tonala Municipality, Jalisco.
And in 2019, the bodies of 29 people were found in 119 bags in an unpopulated area of Zapopan.
Another case that sparked numerous protests in Jalisco was the March 2018 disappearance of three film students whose remains had been dissolved in acid.
Authorities and forensic experts in white lab suits gather around garbage bags filled with human remains in Jalisco on Tuesday
Two aid workers cling on as they are lifted by air as authorities work with several bags of human remains, Jalisco, Mexico, Tuesday
Forensic experts work with several bags of human remains left behind in the Mirador Escondido community in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico
An aid worker escorts a bag of human remains as it is flown by helicopter in Jalisco, Mexico, on Tuesday
At least 45 bags of human remains were found and flown over in Jalisco, Mexico, on Tuesday
Also in 2018, the media reported that three Italians had disappeared, allegedly handed over by police to the Jalisco New Generation cartel, to whom they allegedly sold faulty machines.
The Italians have not been found despite massive searches by state and federal law enforcement.
According to local media, the remains of 33 people were found in five makeshift graves in the Guadalajara area in the first two months of this year alone.
Operating in the state, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful organized crime groups in Mexico, and has been involved in disputes with other drug syndicates.
Since the launch of a controversial military anti-drug offensive in December 2006, Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and some 100,000 disappearances, the majority of which have been attributed to criminal organizations.