
Mass Extermination Ranch Discovered at CJNG Training Camp in Jalisco, Hundreds Believed to Have Disappeared
“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
After locating three large ovens containing human remains at a former CJNG training center in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, authorities found 200 pairs of shoes, 400 items of clothing, and suitcases at the ranch. The Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective reported that at least 200 people may have been victims there.
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Izaguirre Ranch in Teuchitlán
Just six months ago, a training camp was still operating here, but it was raided and dismantled on September 18, 2024.
“It is a fairly large property, if you remember, at that time there were 10 detainees and two rescued, a search was carried out in certain parts of the ranch and remains were found, but the entire ranch could not be processed because it is quite a few hectares…” stated Salvador González de los Santos, the State Attorney General of Jalisco.
The prosecutor also pointed out that at that time, Luis Joaquín Méndez was in charge of the Jalisco prosecutor’s office, in addition to mentioning that the search group was informed of the location of the remains and the CJNG extermination camp.
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The ovens were apparently hidden under a layer of dirt and a brick slab, which partly prevented their detection during the September 2024 raid.
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Evidence collected at the site would indicate that this ranch would have served to train people who were victims of forced recruitment. Weapons, tactical vests, large tires and logs were found used for strength training.
CJNG Training Camp
The last phase, it has been reported, consisted of more advanced training by former Colombian soldiers and/or elite elements known as Kaibiles, from the Guatemalan Army. “That ranch was just kindergarten…if you graduated they sent you to the battlefield. Like cannon fodder,” said one of the survivors quoted by Navarro.
These statements reinforce the hypothesis that the place operated for at least three years as an active site. “There were more than 200 of us,” the young man reportedly said, describing the number of people recruited at the site.
2024 Raid
The National Guard detailed that the search of the site was conducted after receiving reports of loved ones at a ranch located in the community of La Estanzuela . The officers arrived at the site and heard gunshots coming from inside, prompting an operation.
There was no need for the security forces to use their weapons, even though the detainees were carrying their own.
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It’s worth noting that Espinosa Licon also said that the location where the 10 individuals were detained was set up for recruitment and training. The facility was “completely structured to train, recruit, and train people,” he said.
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While the ranch is being reported as a training camp, many clothing items found belonged to women. |
Victim’s Belongings & Stories
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Details of letters and other items have begun to help not only track victim’s identities but date the years of operation of the ranch. Like a love letter, allegedly written by Eduardo Lerma Nieto, a 20-year-old young man who disappeared in February 2024 in San Juan de los Lagos.
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The letter read: “My love, if one day I don’t come back, I only ask that you remember how much I love you. And say: ‘my anger, tantrums and jealousy are gone.’” The note was found in a damaged notebook, among other personal belongings scattered around the place, and it also had his full name, date of birth May 2, 2003, and the area where he was from.
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