The DIF family services agency in Guerrero buried at least 5,000 packages of food on a property believed to be owned by the family of the organization’s director.
Residents of Rodecia and Tenexpa, located in the municipality of Tecpan de Galeana, said that four DIF trucks filled with food passed through both towns last Saturday and unloaded the supplies into a large hole on an estate allegedly owned by the family of Francisco Solís Solís.
The items buried included rice, beans, tuna, sardines, canned vegetables, milk and powdered milk, none of which had passed their best-before date.
While local residents accused Solís of attempting to steal the food, DIF Guerrero said the items were contaminated by flooding.
“On August 9, 2017, due to heavy rain in the city of Tecpan de Galeana . . . our regional storage facilities were flooded and the number three warehouse was affected by water and mud. In said warehouse, there were 10,395 food packages . . .” the agency said in a statement issued in January.
A relative of Solís also claimed this week that the food was buried because it wasn’t fit for human consumption.
However, residents of both Rodecia and Tenexpa who went to the property presumably owned by Solís to dig up the buried items say there is nothing wrong with the food.
It’s not the first time that DIF Guerrero has been caught up in a scandal.
In January 2017 DIF staff delivered breakfast packages to primary and secondary schools in the state capital Chilpancingo. Students who ate the food contracted food poisoning.