In the mountainous region of northern Chihuahua, several clandestine graves have been discovered in recent months in the municipality of Casas Grandes, where authorities have reported a large number of victims.
One of the locations where authorities have recovered the most bodies is an ejido known as "El Willy," where reports from the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office indicates that a total of 91 bodies have been found through investigations and forensic work since early 2025.
Reports say the investigation at "El Willy" began after the arrest of a member of a criminal group, which led authorities to uncover multiple clandestine graves in the area. For several years, the region has faced the presence of the armed group La Línea, an armed wing of the Juárez cartel.
As reported by Infobae México, Adalberto Oros Salido, the district prosecutor for northern Chihuahua, said authorities determined that two of the bodies recovered at the property belonged to suspected members of organized crime who died during a previous confrontation with members of Mexico's Defense Ministry.
Oros Salido also said that, so far, 62 of the bodies have been fully identified through genetic testing conducted by forensic specialists.
Investigators working at the property have also collected additional evidence connected to the case. During their work at the site, authorities recovered at least 70 spent shell casings of different calibers, suggesting the location may have been the scene of violent acts linked to criminal activity.
According to Mexico's National Registry of Missing and Disappeared Persons, more than 121,000 people have been reported missing across the country as of early 2025. Over the past five years, the state of Chihuahua has recorded a total of 2,557 disappearances that remain under investigation, according to data from the State Attorney General's Office.
For years, the state of Chihuahua has been hit by violence linked to organized crime due to its location as a corridor for drug trafficking and migrant smuggling toward the United States.
One of the groups with the strongest presence in Chihuahua is La Linea, which was born as an armed wing for the Juarez cartel indented to help the drug trafficking organization defend its border territories in and around Chihuahua. Since then, La Linea has evolved into a drug and human trafficking group. Federal agencies have said that La Linea also taxes other Mexican criminal groups to move their merchandise through the Juarez Valley and generates revenue by selling synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.
According to Insight Crime, La Linea also has a significant presence along the border with El Paso, where it controls the local drug market in the city center. Authorities believe the group is responsible for the uptick of drug smuggling in the area in recent years.
Originally published on Latin Times
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