Mexico: 12 Bodies Found in Clandestine Grave at an Avocado Orchard in Michoacan Plagued by Mexican Drug Cartels

Mexican drug cartels often use clandestine grave sites to hide the bodies of their victims and rivals. One such grave site was found on Wednesday in Mexico's Michoacan state.

According to El Sol de Morelia, local authorities managed to uncover 12 bodies in this clandestine grave at an avocado orchard in the community of Caltzontzin in Uruapan, Michoacan. They said the victims were already in an advanced state of decomposition.

The bodies were later taken to the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) for an autopsy. Of the 12 bodies found, 10 were men, and two were women.

Authorities initially only found 11 bodies but discovered one more on Thursday, putting the total number of bodies found to 12. According to Borderland Beat, authorities said most of the victims died from strangulation, while the rest died of suffocation.

More and more of these clandestine graves are being found. One of the biggest was the one found in Los Negritos town, near the Michoacan-Jalisco border.

Los Negritos lake used to be a popular tourist destination. However, it was recently reported that the Jalisco cartel used the area as a mass grave site.

According to reports, the natural mud pits and acidic hot springs in the lakeside community have now turned into a makeshift graveyard for victims of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

So far, officials from Michoacan and Mexico's Attorney General's Office have reportedly exhumed 26 bodies from the Los Negritos lake in the municipality of Villamar.

A clandestine graveyard at an avocado orchard is not surprising, as Mexican drug cartels often blackmail or threaten avocado growers, farmers, and transporters.

Many avocado growers in Michoacan said drug cartels threatened them or their family members with kidnapping and death unless they paid protection money.

It resulted in the production of avocadoes to go down in the state. Jalisco state has now stepped up to become the second state in Mexico to export avocadoes for the U.S. market.

Michoacan Is Mexico's State With the Second-Highest Homicide Rate

Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez, the head of the Secretariat for Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico (SSPC), recently presented a report which stated that as of June 2022, the state of Michoacan is the second state that has the largest number of intentional homicides at 1,421.

The state ranks below Guanajuato. The number of intentional homicides in Guanajuato was at 1,566. Baja California ranked third with 1,300 cases, followed by the state of Mexico with 1,265.

Mexican Drug Cartels Fighting for Territory in Michoacan State in Mexico

Mexico's state of Michoacan, the largest avocado producer in the world, is known to be home to several Mexican drug cartels.

The Jalisco Cartel, Carteles Unidos, the remaining members of La Familia Michoacana, and the Caballeros Templarios are among the Mexican drug cartels who have been fighting for control of the state.

The Carteles Unidos or United Cartels reportedly had the support of the Sinaloa Cartel. Aside from the avocado growers, drug cartels have also targeted U.S. personnel working in the state.

It can be recalled that the U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados last February after an American plant safety inspector carrying out an inspection in Uruapan, Michoacan received a threatening message from a drug cartel.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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