A collective of mothers searching for their disappeared children had its drone shot out of the sky while using it to examine a rugged area of Sinaloa on Wednesday.
Deeming their work an essential activity, the Sabuesos Guerreras (Warrior Sleuths) have continued to look for their loved ones during the quarantine period.
The group denounced the action in a Facebook post on Thursday morning, saying “at least they didn’t shoot at us.”
“It wasn’t too high, about the height of a house, and they shot it down. We just kept exploring the area to continue our search, without caring if we bothered anyone,” said the group.
They also said they would not file an official report of the incident as they haven’t received any help from police during any of their search efforts so far.
“What for? If they won’t do anything, we’ll buy another one,” concluded the post.
The women have already started on that, organizing !Dronatón!, a donation campaign to help raise funds for a new unmanned aircraft.
They are requesting direct donations be deposited into the Bancomer account of María Isabel Cruz Bernal, with the account number 4152 3135 1589 0114. More information can be obtained (Spanish preferable) by writing to the Juan Panadero printshop collective.
The Sabuesos Guerreras have worked with the printshop and local artists to paint murals of the faces of Sinaloa’s disappeared on walls in the city of Culiacán.
Wednesday’s incident was not the first time the group has been attacked. Their “Sabuesomóvil,” a vehicle used to carry out searches, was stolen, and many members report having been threatened in attempts to intimidate them into giving up their efforts.
The search brigade is one of many across the country engaged in looking for hidden graves in the hopes of locating missing loved ones.
Sources: Milenio (sp), Revista Espejo (sp)
