The Search For Missing Victims Of The Drug Cartel War Continues: The Find Of Bones On Mount Hidalgo

Illustrated photo (Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The search for more than 73 thousand Mexicans who have disappeared as a result of the war between the government and drug cartels continues. Previously, the search was stopped due to the outbreak of COVID-19 since March.

Reuters reported on Friday, September 4, the people of Mexico who were assisted by the military seemed ready to conduct a search. “It's been amazing to make a search again. Six months we are desperate to find out that we cannot go out to find our loved ones, ”said Leticia Hernandez, a resident who lost her son eight years ago.

Most of the people involved in the search were identified as family members of the missing victims. They continued the search process with only simple equipment, such as drones, shovels and hammers.

Drones are used to search for missing people in a mountainous part of Hidalgo, northern Mexico. The move seemed to be bearing fruit. The search party climbed the hill and found a place that looked like an area for burning human remains.

"A tin drum caught our eye. We were surprised that it contained enough charred bones," said the founder of the organization United Forces for Our Disappeared in Nuevo Leon, Hernandez.

Hernandez added that even though he was not an expert in bone analysis, his experience in carrying out the search made Hernandez understand that the bones found were the remains of burned humans.

According to official data, the cartel gang wars that have occurred since 2006 have recorded more than 287 thousand murders in Mexico. However, many of the cases were not related to organized crime.