13 Migrants Mysteriously Vanished in Mexico's State of Chihuahua Plagued by Mexican Drug Cartels

A group of 13 migrants, mostly Mexicans, mysteriously disappeared in Mexico's state of Chihuahua, and authorities are linking these cases to Mexican drug cartels.

According to Milenio, one of the missing migrants was Benigno Alvarez, who left his family in Chihuahua to try and earn some money in the United States. Alvarez and 12 other migrants disappeared in the desert area of Chihuahua on September 25 last year.

According to reports, the smuggler who escorted Alvarez on his trip to the U.S. was his wife's cousin. But despite this, he never reached his destination, and his group remained missing.

The route taken by the "pollero" or smuggler, a certain Jose Pallares who was paid $4,000, was reportedly dangerous. It was a desert stretch between the towns of Coyame and Ciudad Juárez in Chihuahua allegedly controlled by the La Linea cartel, the armed wing of the Juarez Cartel, which is the rival of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Following the sudden incident in an area of the Chihuahuan Desert, also known as the ghost zone, authorities believed that the Mexican drug cartels were behind the disappearance of the group.

They suspect that the La Linea Cartel took the 13 migrants for crossing its territory without paying a mandatory fee, or the Sinaloa Cartel mistook them as members of its rival cartel.

A teenager, who was not named, claimed that he was the only "survivor," and he saw others being "lifted." Police said the young man, who is now in custody, had already taken the authorities to tour the area where he says the event occurred. However, there were still no results.

Mexican Drug Cartels in Chihuahua, Mexico

According to reports, Mexico's state of Chihuahua has been in a territorial dispute between the Sinaloa Cartel and La Linea cartel for the last five years.

La Linea is a former group of the Juarez Cartel and is fighting the Sinaloa Cartel for smuggling routes in the U.S. La Linea is believed to be led by Jesus Salas Aguayo, alias "El Chuyin."

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's four sons, known as "Los Chapitos," were reportedly left in command of the Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo was arrested and extradited to the U.S.

However, reports suggested that there's an internal dispute for total control of the powerful criminal organization. The Los Chapitos is reportedly looking to assume supreme control of the Sinaloa Cartel and their father's former right-hand man, El Mayo, appears to be their internal enemy number one.

Missing Migrants Cases in Mexico Now More Than Thousands

A report by the Jesuit Migrant Service in Mexico about the disappearance of migrant persons in Mexico showed 1,280 cases recorded from 2007 to 2021.

According to the report, the years 2018, 2019, and 2021 have the highest number of requests that the agency received from families and friends.

The report noted that the places from which the requests were made from the United States (28 percent), followed by Mexico (24 percent), Nicaragua, Honduras (13 percent), Guatemala (11 percent), and five percent from El Salvador.

Regarding the places of the last contact with the missing migrants, 94 percent were located in Mexico, and the remaining six percent were in the United States.

In the profile of the disappeared migrants, the report noted that 71 percent are Central Americans, followed by Mexicans (22 percent) and South Americans (seven percent). Most of them were reportedly between 18 and 59 years old, and 74 percent were men.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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