Mayor arrested in Jalisco illustrates collusion between state and criminal structures in Mexico
Investigation into alleged 'death camp' is uncovering systemic corruption
The mayor of Teuchitlán in western Jalisco state was arrested Monday in connection with a ‘death camp’ run by the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG). Prosecutors accuse José Murguía Santiago of being on the CJNG payroll and colluding with the cartel as part of a training camp discovered by civilian investigators, better known in Mexico as “buscadores,” in March. Santiago denies the claims.
The investigation was launched after buscadores discovered bone fragments, bloodied clothing, and what appeared to be final notes to loved ones at a ranch just outside the city.
Mexico’s Attorney-General Alejandro Gertz took over the case from local authorities after an investigation he suggested was intentionally bungled to protect CJNG. In a press conference last week, Gertz confirmed the site had been used as a training center for recruits, but stated authorities had not uncovered evidence that supported the site had been used as a crematorium and execution site.
Civil investigators were angered by the official statements, which they say fail to explain why they found bone fragments and other apparent forensic evidence.
Nonetheless, the episode illustrates the deep and widespread collusion between politicians, security forces, and organized crime in the country.
Following the discovery of 24 bodies in another clandestine grave in Zapopan, Jalisco in December 2024, a study by the Committee for the Analysis of Missing Persons from the University of Guadalajara pointed out the “systemic and active involvement” of local police in forced disappearances. According to Jalisco’s Prosecutor’s Office for Disappeared Persons, 306 public servants were prosecuted in forced disappearance cases between 2018 and 2024.
Military and police especially are believed to be deeply infiltrated by, and in some cases working directly with the CJNG.
In addition, an unstated accord seems to have formed between armed groups and security forces in which victims of homicide or even non-fatal violent crimes are often “disappeared” by criminals to lower official crime statistics.
“In the eyes of the authorities, if there is no body, there is no crime,” one buscadora told PWS in March, alluding to the tens of thousands of people who have gone missing in Mexico in recent years.
Security force insiders and criminal leaders, in late 2024, told International Crisis Group in late March that “a set of largely unspoken rules has been established, encouraging illegal groups to reduce and conceal the violence they perpetrate. In exchange, authorities have turned a blind eye to a degree of illegality, enabling these organizations to diversify their trafficking operations, expand their extortion rackets, branch out into legal business, and assume greater control of communities and local governments.”
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