The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, requested the Attorney General's Office (FGR) to clarify the alleged links of the mayor of the municipality of Teuchitlán, Jalisco, arrested over the weekend, with a drug cartel.
During her daily press conference, Sheinbaum stated: "The attorney's office must inform what the links or the alleged links are with one of the cartels." The mayor, José Ascensión Murguía Santiago, was arrested for his alleged relation with Rancho Izaguirre and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Although local media report that the mayor faces charges of organized crime and disappearance of persons, Sheinbaum pointed out that the FGR is the responsible instance to provide information about the arrest.
Mexico's Attorney General, Alejandro Gertz Manero, confirmed the previous week that Rancho Izaguirre in Teuchitlán was used as "a training camp" by the CJNG, but denied the existence of evidence supporting its use as a crematorium.
The collective Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco alerted in March about the presence of a supposed "extermination camp" of the drug traffickers in the ranch after finding 400 pairs of shoes; however, the Mexican government identified it as a cartel training site.
It is indicated that the mayor not only was aware of the illegal activities in the ranch but also participated in them and received bribes from the CJNG. This case has generated pressure on President Sheinbaum to address the crisis of disappearances in Mexico, where more than 120,000 people remain unaccounted for since the 1960s.
