Horrifying images have emerged from what appears to be a training camp for a drug cartel in Mexico, prompting investigation from authorities.
The images, taken from a camp named Rancho Izaguirre, show discarded personal items such as shoes, clothing and letters to loved ones littered about the two-acre path of land, which lies around 37 miles away from the city of Guadalajara.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the camp was discovered by volunteers from Warrior Searchers of Jalisco — one of the many groups who work to uncover what happened to the hundreds of thousands of 'disappeared' Mexicans.
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"It was a tremendous shock," recalled Raúl Servín García, of Warrior Searchers of Jalisco, said of the discovery.
"The first thought that occurs to you is to hope that no relative — a son, a husband — had ever been in this place, had ever been tortured or murdered there."
What do we know about 'extermination camp' Rancho Izaguirre?
Located in Jalisco state, the camp features numerous buildings, a 'training' course complete with barbed wire and tires lining the ground as well as a shrine to folk saint Santa Muerte (Holy Death), a symbol often linked to criminality in the country.
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However, the most horrifying discoveries included what appeared to be an underground crematoria, what appeared to be burnt human bones and bullet casings — findings which prompted local media outlets to refer to the site as a 'extermination camp' or 'Mexican Auschwitz'.
Notebooks with handwritten entries of what appeared to be a 'coded' ledger of ex-captives was also recovered, alongside a farewell letter which read: "My Love if Some day I don’t Return I only ask you to remember how much I Love you."
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Los Angeles Times added that the National Guard had previously raided the site last September, where two living captives and a third body wrapped in plastic were recovered.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has since confirmed that federal authorities would take on the investigation of the ranch. "The first thing we have to do in that case is investigate, because the images are obviously painful, we really need to know what happened there before anything else," she said (via Bloomberg).
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"That’s why it’s important that there is a coordinated investigation, and obviously determining who is responsible."
Reports in local media have since suggested that local group Jalisco New Generation Cartel could be responsible, however, this has not been confirmed by authorities.
According to statistics from Mexico's National Search Commission (CNB), the state of Jalisco has the highest number of disappeared persons, with over 5,000 people reported missing (via Mexico News Daily).
Brenna Cooper