A court in Mexico has handed down lengthy prison terms to 10 cartel members, sentencing each to 141 years over murder and kidnapping charges linked to a clandestine training camp.
The convicted men were apprehended last September at a ranch in Jalisco, a western state notorious for cartel violence. Officials said the site was being operated as a forced recruitment hub by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s most dominant and feared criminal networks.
During the military raid on the property, prompted by reports of intense gunfire, authorities discovered two individuals held captive and recovered the body of a victim who had already been killed. The case sent shockwaves through the nation, highlighting the cartels’ continued reign of terror and brutal tactics to expand their ranks.
“The defendants were each sentenced to 141 years and three months in prison” for one count of homicide and two counts of kidnapping, according to a statement from the Jalisco prosecutor’s office.
The Guerreros Buscadores collective, a group dedicated to locating missing relatives, reported in March that charred bones as well as hundreds of objects and items of clothing had been found at Izaguirre Ranch, allegedly belonging to people who had been forced to join the cartel.
However, the government said that there was no evidence that the ranch was an “extermination camp” as the group alleged, but rather a cartel training center.
Since March, about 15 other people, including a mayor and police officers, have been arrested in connection with the site.
The case has drawn widespread media attention in Mexico, a nation grappling with staggering levels of criminal violence that has left more than 120,000 people unaccounted for — the grim legacy of a military-led crackdown on cartels launched back in 2006.
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According to official accounts, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — which US President Donald Trump once labelled a terrorist organisation — enticed young people to the Izaguirre Ranch under the guise of promising job offers. Once there, they were forced into paramilitary-style training and armed combat preparation, Mexico’s Security Minister, Omar Garcia Harfuch, revealed in March. His statement was based on testimony from an alleged recruiter now in custody.
Those who resisted indoctrination or attempted to flee paid with their lives, Garcia Harfuch added, underscoring the brutal tactics cartels deploy to strengthen their ranks.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has urged Mexican authorities to carry out an exhaustive and credible investigation into the abuses uncovered at the ranch, insisting that justice must be free of political interference or cover-up.
Forced disappearances, often tied to cartel recruitment and retaliation, have surged dramatically since Mexico’s military was tasked with tackling organised crime nearly twenty years ago. In that time, an estimated 480,000 people have been murdered in a relentless cycle of violence that shows few signs of slowing.