Global Courant
Three days after 7 teenagers were violently kidnapped while they were sleeping on a ranch in the state of Zacatecas, in northern Mexico, authorities announced that one of the young people was found alive.
The State Attorney General’s Office (FGJE) reported in a statement that it is working on the identification of the six bodies found in a remote point in the municipality of Villanueva, the same one where the kidnapping took place last Sunday.
“The young man (survivor), who has various injuries, was transferred to receive medical attention” to a hospital in the capital of Zacatecas, the FGJE reported. His condition is stable.
“In the place, which is difficult to access since there are no roads to get to it, six lifeless bodies of young men have been located so far, which remain unidentified until the recognition mechanisms are exhausted.” , added the note.
Last Sunday, the teenagers Jorge Alberto René Ocón Acevedo (14 years old), Óscar Ernesto Rojas Alvarado (15), Diego Rodríguez Vidales (17), Héctor Alejandro Saucedo Acevedo (17), Sergio Yobani Acevedo Rodríguez (18), Jesús Manuel Rodríguez Robles (18) and Gumaro Santacruz Carrillo (18) were kidnapped at the “El Potrerito” ranch.
The Prosecutor’s Office did not confirm the identity of the survivor and noted that it still “cannot be confirmed if among the deceased are all of the young people deprived of their liberty last Sunday.”
The authority did not offer any explanation about the possible motive for the crime.
This new case occurs two months after five young people between 19 and 22 years old were kidnapped and murdered in the neighboring state of Jaliscoa crime that caused great impact in Mexico.
Getty ImagesZacatecas has been facing an upsurge in criminal violence for months.
“I love my son”
The 7 teenagers kidnapped in Zacatecas, three of whom were cousins, had been at the ranch owned by Saucedo Acevedo’s father since Saturday, near the town of Malpaso, where they spent the night.
In the early morning hours, according to what relatives have told various media, a group of armed men broke into the place and forcibly took the teenagers away.
The parents mobilized to demand the help of local and federal authorities to locate the boys.
“I love my son, I love my children,” the mother of one of the young people shouted desperately on Tuesday while participating in the nine-hour blockade on a highway that leads to the town of Malpaso, 30 km from the capital, Zacatecas.
The authorities reported that 300 security elements had been deployed, including the military, national guards, state police and local agents, to search for the missing young people.
On Tuesday they found the vehicle in which the young people were taken, according to the FGJE.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday morning that the case had been discussed at the daily meeting of his security cabinet. “Work is being done, action is being taken in all cases and there is nothing that remains uninvestigated and there is special attention,” he assured.
Zacatecas is one of the states that has suffered the most violence from organized crime in recent months. The northern region of the country is the scene of clashes between criminal groups that dispute routes to traffic drugs and other illicit businesses.
According to official figures, from January to August 536 people were murdered in the state, the majority with firearms.
BBC
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