Jalisco Extermination Camp

The Jalisco extermination camp refers to a forced recruitment and training center located at Rancho Izaguirre, in the municipality of Teuchitlán in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It has been referred to by various names in the media, such as an extermination center, a concentration camp, and the little school of terror. The site was operated by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and was discovered on 5 March 2025, following an anonymous call to a group of volunteers dedicated to searching for missing persons.

Life in the camp

Arrival

Recruiters allegedly posted fake job advertisements on social media to attract applicants. These listings usually offered security guard roles with weekly salaries ranging from MX$4,000 to MX$12,000 (around US$200 to US$600). Applicants were instructed to gather at designated bus terminals, where they were then transported to Izaguirre Ranch. While some listings promoted positions within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, many survivors reported that they were unaware of the group's involvement until their arrival at the ranch.

Upon arrival at Izaguirre Ranch, applicants were required to surrender all their belongings, including their phones, effectively cutting off their communication with the outside world.

Training

Upon completing their training, recruits were offered positions within the organization based on their aptitudes. They were then deployed to different states to strengthen the cartel's operations.

Discovery

On 20 September 2024, the National Guard and the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office raided Izaguirre Ranch, securing the property and rescuing two kidnapped individuals. Authorities also arrested ten people and seized various firearms; however, no mention was made of a training camp, crematoriums, mass graves, or human remains.

Following an anonymous tip about a possible mass grave on the ranch, the Buscadores Guerreros de Jalisco Collective, an activist group dedicated to searching for missing persons, arrived at the site on 5 March 2025 to investigate. While searching the site, the group discovered approximately 200 pairs of shoes, hundreds of clothing items, three makeshift crematoriums, and charred human remains.

Reactions

Domestic

On 10 March, President Claudia Sheinbaum described the findings as "terrible" and stated that both the governor of Jalisco and the federal Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection were addressing the case.

On the afternoon of 15 March, civic organizations and citizens held vigils in at least 24 public squares to protest and demand justice.

On 17 March, President of the Senate Gerardo Fernández Noroña downplayed the findings, suggesting that the evidence—referring to 200 pairs of shoes—might or might not be authentic and that they did not necessarily indicate a case of forced disappearances. He accused the media and the opposition of orchestrating a "vile and infamous coup campaign" against Sheinbaum's government and Morena regarding the case.

On 20 March, Senator Marko Cortés (PAN) proposed the creation of an interdisciplinary team of national and international experts to investigate the events at Izaguirre Ranch. However, the Senate session was adjourned prematurely after senators from Morena, the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), and the Labor Party (PT), led by Senator Adán Augusto López (Morena), walked out. On 25 March, the motion failed in a 31–61 vote.

International

U.S. Republican congressman Riley Moore compared the situation to "something we had previously only associated with Nazi death camps like Auschwitz".

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a press release on 27 March 2025 in which it called on Mexico to step up its efforts to investigate the site, identify the victims and punish those responsible, describing the state's search efforts as "deficient".

Investigations

State investigation

Following the seizure of Izaguirre Ranch by the National Guard and the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office on 20 September 2024, the latter launched an investigation into the site after the Attorney General's Office (FGR) declined to take over the case. Notably, the investigation included charges of firearm possession and enforced disappearance but did not address organized crime, a charge that falls outside the jurisdiction of state prosecutors and can only be investigated by the FGR.

After search collectives discovered Izaguirre Ranch, Attorney General Alejandro Gertz raised concerns about irregularities in the state’s investigation on 19 March, which included the failure to track or identify fingerprints at the scene, improper recording and identification of evidence such as abandoned clothing and footwear, the failure to conduct a full site inspection, inadequate processing of vehicles—three of which were later identified as stolen—and the lack of immediate involvement by the Attorney General's Office (FGR) for crimes related to high-caliber firearms or organized crime. Gertz also noted that, six months later, the forensic services in Jalisco still lacked a definitive report establishing the age and identity of the remains found.

On the same day, Gertz accused the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office of failing to send all relevant forensic reports and documents to the FGR, delaying the process of transferring the case. The following day, the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office complied, sending all investigation files to the FGR.

Federal investigation

On 24 March 2025, Secretary of Security Omar García Harfuch, announced the arrest of José Gregorio Lastra Hermida, also known as "El Comandante Lastra," an alleged leader within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Lastra was apprehended in Mexico City and was accused of overseeing forced recruitment and training operations at Izaguirre Ranch between May 2024 to March 2025. According to authorities, he abducted individuals to train them for criminal activities; those who resisted or attempted to escape were reportedly tortured or killed. Authorities also dismantled 39 websites allegedly used by the CJNG to recruit individuals under false pretenses.

In April 2025, the Attorney General of Mexico, Alejandro Gertz Manero, concluded that the ranch was used as a recruitment site, not an extermination site, stating that executions had not been carried out systematically. Authorities ruled out the existence of cremation facilities at the site, with Gertz stating that the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) conducted soil, rock, and construction material analyses in the area, finding no evidence of temperatures reaching 200°C; cremation requires approximately 800°C.

On 3 May 2025, José Murguía Santiago, the mayor of Teuchitlán, was arrested on charges of organized crime and forced disappearance. The Attorney General's Office alleged that he was aware of the ranch's existence, received monthly payments of MX$70,000, and used municipal resources to assist in the ranch's operation.

See also

* Mexican drug war

References

{{Mexican Drug War

September 2024 in Mexico
March 2025 in Mexico
Internment camps
Jalisco