By Theodore Shoebat
In the El Limón Rance, which lies in the Mexican state of Veracruz, in the town of Tlalixcoyan, almost three thousand fragments of human corpses were discovered, leading investigators to believe that around three hundred bodies were buried on this very spot. The three thousand human remains were found after three days of investigation by forensic experts. The investigation was launched after locals began to make reports on the bodies to authorities. One Mexican source stated:
The experts in forensic anthropology were working three days in the area… [They] then processed parts that have been found. This was a site that was being used for such activities
Among the fragments collected range from pieces of bone to other objects that are present in human corpses, such as blood.The problem for the experts is that much of the fragments found are in a state of significant deterioration, making it difficult to be processed and identified with conventional forensic evidence. Most notably, bone fragments were calcined.
Because of this, investigators have not been able to say exactly how many bodies belong to the three thousand fragments found at the ranch, but officials estimate it could be hundreds of victims. So far, from a pair of bones and a bloodstain, it was possible to identify two victims, youths who were missing in the area of Tierra Blanca.
The hypothesis of the Prosecutor of Veracruz and the National Safety Commission is that the victims were taken to the ranch. The culprits proceeded to burn their bodies and then to grind the remains to finally bury them.
Yesterday, Deputy Secretary for Human Rights of the Ministry of Interior, Roberto Campa, confirmed that the ranch was used to conducted mass disappearances of human beings. The federal official said:
There was an almost artisan expert type work. Hovering remains were charred, but were eventually crushed, as with conventional cremation (…) all this discovery was made with a very careful forensic work, there is 40-hour footage, all technical equipment and trained dogs are used
The El Limón Ranch is not the first property of its kind in Veracruz to be used by criminal groups to kill people or to commit other illegal activities.
On June 16, 2014, elements of the Navy of Mexico discovered multiple mass graves in the Diamond Ranch, located between the towns of Tres Valles and Cosamaloapan, also in southern Veracruz. In the days following the discovery, more than 30 bodies were recovered from this land without the death toll being officially specified.
According to investigations, the Diamond Ranch was owned by former mayor of the municipality of Tres Valles, Fernando Cano Cano, who died in 2011.
To cite another example, in February 2012, in the arrest of a suspected leader of a cartel, officials of the Mexican Navy found the bodies of at least 15 people who had been buried in clandestine graves in two ranches near the town of Acayucan, also in the south of the state.
More recent was the discovery of five bodies, including those of two people of Colombian origin with signs of torture, within the Rancho El Lagostillo, located in the municipality of National Bridge. The discovery was made in November 2015.
Note that the victims found in that case had been abducted in the city of Cordoba, the same one where on February 8th where journalist Anabel Flores was kidnapped. Mexico is the third most dangerous country for journalists in the world, right next to Syria and Iraq.