Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Search for missing persons yields narco-camps in Tamaulipas

Searching for the hidden graves of missing persons in Tamaulipas has turned up more than just bodies over the past six years.

A non-governmental organization dedicated to searching for the missing has found at least 50 narco-camps, used by crime gangs to bury or incinerate the remains of their victims and other purposes.

The president of Milynali, Graciela Pérez Rodríguez, told the newspaper Reforma that human remains have also been found at the camps, located mostly in central and southern Tamaulipas.

Relatives of the missing began searching for their loved ones in 2010 after criminal organizations started fighting for control of the state.

Pérez blames the proliferation of the camps on authorities’ excessive tolerance and fear of reprisals on the part of citizens should they report them.

She offered as an example the town of Xicoténcatl, where a narco-camp was discovered a mere 200 meters from a residential area.

“I’ve always said that if this is happening it cannot be fortuitously or in a hidden way . . . everybody could see the comings and goings of the criminals. These are large camps.”

The state Attorney General’s office (PGJE) identified 280 mass graves between 2006 and 2016, ranking Tamaulipas as second only to Veracruz, where 332 mass graves have been found.

However, Tamaulipas tops the list of missing persons, with nearly 6,000 cases recorded in the last decade.

The PGJE has consolidated a database of missing persons and unidentified bodies that is designed to be shared at the national level and to aid in finding and identifying the people on it.

Source: Reforma (sp)
Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
The Tomás Garrido Park is an extension of the La Venta Museum-Park, one of the few open-air museums in Latin America, and features over 30 Olmec heads.

Villahermosa residents protest National Olmec Museum in beloved Tomás Garrido Park

0
Construction of the National Olmec Museum would occupy the grounds of the Tomás Garrido Park in Villahermosa, relocating the park's Olmec monuments and potentially killing the city's "green lung."
SimiPet care

Pawsome news: Dr. Simi launches budget-friendly veterinary care in Mexico

2
SimiPet Care offers basic veterinary services for dogs and cats, including vaccinations, deworming, glucose tests, wound care and travel certificates, for the low cost of 75 pesos (US $3.95).
Store workers standing for their entire shift

With new Chair Law, Mexico says workers have right to sit down on the job

1
Employers in the service and retail industries are most directly impacted by the Chair Law, whose objective is to prevent employees from having to remain standing for the entirety of their shifts.