Volunteer Group That Discovered Cartel Ranch Accuses Mexican AG Of Covering Up Cremation Site Evidence

Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero said on Tuesday there was no evidence that the infamous Izaguirre Ranch — used by the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) for recruitment, training and killing of those reluctant to join its ranks — had been used as a human cremation site. Now members of the volunteer group that first alerted authorities of the property accused him of trying to 'kill the truth' about what really happened there.

Concretely, Gertz Manero said there was "not a single piece of evidence" to support claims that the site had been used to incinerate bodies. To back his claim he cited an analysis by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which found that temperatures at the site had not exceeded 200 degrees Celsius in any of the burned areas, a figure lower than the one required to reach such a conclusion.

The UNAM analysis, which censored certain parts, showed that "demagnetization by temperature" in both the burned and unaffected areas did not reveal any signs of reheating above 200 degrees.

Members of Colectivo Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, however, rejected Gertz Manero's version of events. In a statement shared on X, they argue that another investigation conducted by the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences holds "conclusive" evidence that supports their conclusion.

"There are 17 sets of charred d human bone remains recovered from the Izaguirre Ranch, which are sufficient evidence that we are talking about human beings — not just a ceramic pot, as the attorney general claims," reads a passage of the statement. They called the remains "irrefutable evidence" that contradicts the federal prosecutor's version of events.

Gertz Manero had said on Tuesday that "no bodies or bones—whether complete or partial skeletons—were found at the property." He noted the only thing found by authorities was a ceramic pot containing bone fragments.

In a letter addressed to President Claudia Sheinbaum, the collective — composed largely of mothers searching for their missing children — said the president is being misled, and that these lies are discrediting the people risking their lives looking for their loved ones.

"What would you feel, as a scientist, if you had irrefutable evidence and someone in power simply denied reality out of complicity or political convenience? They already took our children from us — don't let them take the truth too," the letter read.

The group also criticized Gertz Manero for failing to visit the ranch. They noted they have worked instead with Sara Irene Herrerías, head of the Special Prosecutor's Office for Human Rights, and urged Sheinbaum to speak with her to understand their fight and review the evidence firsthand.

"The attorney general didn't disappear our children, but he wants to disappear the truth," the letter said. "Don't let them lie to you, President. From one mother to another: the next move is yours."