Mexican mayor arrested over alleged links to cartel training camp
Prosecutors in Mexico have arrested the mayor of Teuchitlán in western Jalisco state as part of their investigation into a nearby cartel training site.
The mayor, José Murguía Santiago, is suspected of colluding with the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG), which he has denied.
The investigation was launched after activists discovered bone fragments and hundreds of discarded shoes, backpacks and items of clothing at the Izaguirre ranch outside the town in March.
Rights groups said that they feared the ranch had been used as an "extermination camp", where people were forcedly recruited and trained, and those who refused were tortured and killed.
The discovery by people searching for their missing relatives of what appeared to be evidence of mass killings at the site shocked the country, where cartel violence is rife.
Read: Ovens and bone fragments - BBC visits Mexican cartel 'extermination' site
Mexico's Attorney-General Alejandro Gertz gave a news conference last week updating journalists on the federal investigation into the ranch.
He confirmed that the site had been used as a training centre for recruits of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most feared and powerful transnational drug trafficking gangs, which has its power base in Jalisco.
However, he said that there was no evidence that it had been used as an extermination and cremation site.
According to the attorney-general, bone fragments discovered there were not recent and forensic tests suggested that the fires lit at the ranch would not have been hot enough to dispose of human remains.
Gertz's statements caused anger among "searchers", the name given to relatives looking for the more than 120,000 people who have been reported missing in Mexico over the past two decades.
They said that his news conference raised more questions than it answered and failed to address to whom the many abandoned shoes found at the ranch belonged and what had become of those people.
Gertz insisted that the authorities would continue looking into whether there had been any collusion between the CJNG and local officials.
The arrest of Mayor Murguía Santiago is part of that ongoing investigation.
Prior to his arrest, the mayor had said that he had nothing to hide. "If they want to investigate me, let them, I'm clean and willing to say what I know," he told local media.
But prosecutors allege that he knew of the existence of the training centre and did not act on that knowledge.
Disappearances double in Sinaloa amid Mexican cartel rift
Extortion and kidnap - a deadly journey across Mexico
The Searchers: Mexican women who look for the dead
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
21 minutes ago
- USA Today
Multiple journalists injured by police nonlethal rounds while covering LA protests
Multiple journalists injured by police nonlethal rounds while covering LA protests Show Caption Hide Caption Australian journalist shot with a rubber bullet in Los Angeles Australian journalist from 9News, Lauren Tomasi, was shot with a rubber bullet while reporting from the protests in Los Angeles. Multiple members of the media have been injured by nonlethal rounds fired by law enforcement while covering dayslong protests over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, prompting the Committee to Protect Journalists to sound an alarm about the intimidation of reporters. Authorities braced for a fifth day of demonstrations on June 10, with President Donald Trump ordering the National Guard and members of the U.S. Marine Corps in a show of force against unrest. The administration's stepping in has also ignited a clash between local leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the federal government. As officers use force against protesters, some journalists reporting on the melee have been caught by nonlethal rubber rounds and other projectiles. Adam Rose, the secretary of the Los Angeles Press Club, has documented more than 30 incidents of reporters, photographers and other media professionals impacted by police actions that range from searching a journalist's bag to firing tear gas or rubber bullets at them. In one viral video, an officer appears to aim and take fire at Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi, who yelped in pain when she was hit in the leg. More: Australian journalist shot with nonlethal bullet while reporting on LA protests The committee, which advocates for press freedom and documents cases of journalists who are killed, imprisoned or missing, said it was "greatly concerned" by the reports of officers' shooting nonlethal rounds at reporters on the ground. "Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,' Katherine Jacobsen, program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, said in a statement. 'It is incumbent upon authorities to respect the media's role of documenting issues of public interest.' The Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol didn't immediately respond to a USA TODAY inquiry on the injured journalists. The department told the Committee to Protect Journalists it will investigate the incidents. LA protest updates: Newsom calls Trump's Marine deployment a 'blatant abuse of power' Journalists injured by rubber bullets, other nonlethal rounds Tomasi, the Australian reporter, was sore after being hit by the rubber bullet but otherwise unharmed, her employer Australia's 9News said. British freelance photographer Nick Stern had to undergo emergency surgery after also being hit in the leg with a nonlethal round, he told the BBC. Stern said he was covering the protests in Los Angeles on June 8 when he was hit by a 3-inch "plastic bullet," BBC reported. He said he was wearing his press credentials and wearing a big camera around his neck. "There was something hard sticking out of the back of my leg and my leg was getting wet from blood," he told the outlet. Stern told BBC protesters helped carry him away from the "danger area" and a medic applied a tourniquet. "I intend, as soon as I am well enough, to get back out there," he told BBC. "This is too important and it needs documenting." A New York Post photographer was also hit with a rubber bullet in the head, the outlet reported. Toby Canham was standing just off the 101 freeway in Los Angeles the evening of June 8 "when a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer suddenly turned his weapon toward him and fired from about 100 yards away," the Post reported. He went to the hospital for whiplash and neck pain and had a bruise on his forehead. 'It's a real shame. I completely understand being in the position where you could get injured, but at the same time, there was no justification for even aiming the rifle at me and pulling the trigger, so I'm a bit pissed off about that, to be honest,' Canham said. Officers also shot Ryanne Mena, a reporter with the Southern California News Group, with pepper ball bullets, which contain a chemical akin to pepper spray, she said in a post on social media. Police briefly detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll while he was on the air covering protests on June 9. In-studio anchors briefly lost contact with Carroll, who could be seen being led away by LAPD officers with hands behind his back. An officer can be heard telling Carroll: "We're letting you go. You can't come back. If you come back, you will be arrested." "You take a lot of risks as press. This is low on that scale of risks, but it is something that I wasn't expecting, simply because we've been out here all day," Carroll said. "I've covered any number of protests, and normally the officers realize that the press is there doing a job." What's happening in LA protests Protests began on June 6 in response to the Trump administration's crackdown with immigration raids in Southern California. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is carrying out a directive from Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status. Protests have sprung up against the sweeps the agency is carrying out in various neighborhoods. The protests began largely peacefully after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps near Los Angeles resulted in more than 40 arrests, but flared up when heavily armed, masked agents raided Los Angeles businesses. For several days, the demonstrations have grown and turned chaotic and sometimes violent, with police and protesters clashing in the streets. A tense standoff unfolded between the administration and California authorities, who say the use of the National Guard and U.S. Marines is an unlawful subversion of Newsom's authority. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Trump's escalation of military presence a "deliberate attempt to create disorder and chaos in our city." On Monday, LAPD said protesters threw objects at officers near the federal courthouse, prompting use of gas canisters and other munitions. Bass said over 100 people were arrested Monday night, blaming "fringe groups" for violence. Contributing: Thao Nguyen, John Bacon, Greta Cross and Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
New York Post
23 minutes ago
- New York Post
Fetterman rips ‘anarchy and true chaos' in LA, warns Dems not to cede ‘moral high ground'
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has denounced the riots in Los Angeles and warned his party about the pitfalls of failing to adequately condemn the 'anarchy and true chaos. 'I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that,' Fetterman (D-Pa.) wrote on X on Monday evening. 'This is anarchy and true chaos. My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement.' Advertisement The Keystone State Dem included a photo of cars being scorched in a fiery blaze with a shirtless masked man waving a Mexican flag in the background. 3 President Trump has deployed several thousand National Guard troops to Los Angeles to try to help quell the violent protests over his illegal-immigration crackdown. Toby Canham for NY Post Advertisement 3 Sen. John Fetterman, a Dem from Pennsylvania, isn't mincing words about his condemnation of the riots in Los Angeles. Getty Images Around the time of his post, Fetterman was spotted at Butterworth's, a top MAGA hangout in Washington, DC — dining with Trump ally Steve Bannon and Breitbart's Matt Boyle, Politico Playbook reported. Tech mogul Elon Musk commended Fetterman's condemnation of the 'anarchy and true chaos' unfolding in LA, replying with an American flag emoji. Fetterman's post came amid a feud between President Trump and top California Democrats over the prez's decision to federalize the California National Guard and bring in troops to tame the unrest in Los Angeles. Advertisement Protesters had flooded the streets in droves Friday to demonstrate against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts in the city. The ICE agents' targets have included a Home Depot in Paramount. 3 Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has stressed that the violent destructive rioting has largely been limited to downtown. Toby Canham for NY Post By Saturday, some of the demonstrations devolved into violent clashes with federal authorities in Compton and Paramount. The Trump administration mobilized another 2,000 troops to respond to the mayhem, after previously ordering an initial 2,000 troops to the region over the weekend. Trump's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, said Monday he also was deploying 700 Marines to the area to help try to contain the chaos. Advertisement Top leadership in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — both Democrats — slammed the GOP White House for the troop mobilization and pleaded with the public not to turn to violence to protest Trump's immigration policies. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, also a Dem, filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration seeking to void the president's memo to federalize the state's National Guard. Fetterman hasn't been afraid to punch the left in his own party, particularly when it comes to Israel. Near the end of the Biden administration, he had also favored measures to strengthen border security.
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Map and List of Anti-ICE Protests Nationwide Following LA Riots
Protests against actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement erupted in several cities across the United States on Monday after clashes between protesters and authorities intensified in Los Angeles over the weekend. Demonstrators gathered in major cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Tampa, San Francisco against ICE raids and in solidarity with the protesters in Los Angeles. The protests have highlighted ongoing divisions over U.S. immigration policy and its impact on communities across the country. Protests against ICE erupted in Los Angeles on Friday, as federal authorities arrested immigrants in several locations throughout the city. Tensions escalated Sunday as thousands took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard. Trump and other administration officials have seized on the images of burning cars, graffiti and Mexican flags to bolster their cause, while California sued the Trump administration over the deployment of National Guard troops. Clashes escalated in Los Angeles over the weekend after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city, in areas including the Fashion District and a Home Depot parking lot. On Sunday, demonstrators blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Thousands peacefully attended a rally at City Hall on Monday, while hundreds protested outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held, The Associated Press reported. ICE denied these allegations, a spokesperson previously telling Newsweek the agency "categorically refutes the assertions made by immigration activists in Los Angeles." Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops into the city as well as 700 Marines, which California Governor Gavin Newsom has blasted as "reckless" and "disrespectful to our troops." Demonstrators gathered at the Texas Capitol on Monday evening in solidarity with those protesting ICE actions in Los Angeles. Law enforcement used tear gas and pepper spray against protesters and at least two people were arrested, KXAN reported. Protesters gathered in Daley Plaza on Monday to demonstrate against ICE raids in Chicago and Los Angeles, ABC7 reported. On Monday evening, protesters also gathered outside the Chicago Police Department's headquarters, accusing the department of helping ICE with crowd control, which the department denies. Dozens of protesters gathered on Monday evening to protest the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, according to Fox4. The demonstration began on the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge before moving to the streets. Officers used pepper balls to disperse protesters and at least one person was arrested, said Fox News reporter Brooke Taylor on X. At least 20 people were arrested after protesters occupied Trump Tower on Monday, demanding the return of migrants who were sent to the CECOT prison in El Salvador. Rise and Resist, the group that organized the protest, said the demonstrators "went to Trump Tower to protest the illegal kidnappings and deportations of immigrants with due process. We are demanding the Trump regime halt these deportations and bring everyone home who was sent to CECOT." Video posted on social media showed police officers placing demonstrators in zip ties and escorting them from the building. Hundreds of people gathered outside Tampa City Hall on Monday to demand an end to ICE raids across the country. There were some heated moments between anti-ICE protesters and counter-protesters, but no violence was reported, according to Fox13. There were also reports of anti-ICE demonstrations in Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New Orleans and other cities. More than 30 protests were planned for Monday across the country in support of David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California (SEIU) after he was detained during a series of ICE raids in Los Angeles on Friday. He was released on Monday. April Verrett, president of the SEIU, said in a statement on Monday: "We are relieved that David is free and reunited with his family and we are deeply grateful to the hundreds of elected officials, civil rights leaders, labor partners and allies from across the nation who stood in solidarity and demanded David's release. "But this struggle is about much more than just one man. Thousands of workers remain unjustly detained and separated from their families. At this very moment, immigrant communities are being terrorized by heavily militarized armed forces. The Trump regime calling in the National Guard is a dangerous escalation to target people who disagree with them. It is a threat to our democracy. The federal government should never be used as a weapon against people who disagree with them." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X late Monday: "Stop the raids. There is a real fear in Los Angeles right now. Parents, workers, grandparents, young people scared to go about their daily lives. We are a city of immigrants. Washington is attacking our people, our neighborhoods and our economy." California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X that the president "is trying to provoke chaos by sending 4,000 soldiers onto American soil. Foolish agitators who take advantage of Trump's chaos will be held accountable. Stay safe. Stay calm. Look out for one another." President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday: "We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California. If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated." Demonstrations against ICE actions are expected to continue in Los Angeles and other major cities in the coming days. Coordinated nationwide protests against Trump and his administration's policies are also planned to take place in cities in all 50 states on the president's birthday on June 14. Related Articles Federal Officers 'Overrun' as Santa Ana Protests EscalateLA's Only Elected Republican Reacts to National Guard Troops, ICE RaidsCalifornia Republican: Gavin Newsom Should 'Absolutely Not' Be ArrestedRichard Blumenthal Reveals Trump 'Martial Law' Fear 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
