Mexico Blocks Mothers from Searching Border City Cartel Killing Field for Their Kids

Mexican federal investigators began a new search in a cartel killing field near the Texas border. The move came after pressure from a group of mothers looking for their loved ones. However, officials are prohibiting the group from directly participating despite their training to search for human remains.

El día de hoy se llevaron a cabo acciones de prospección por la @FGR con acompañamiento de la Subsecretaría de Derechos Humanos de la @SEGOB_mx y la CNB en La Bartolina, Tamaulipas. pic.twitter.com/9m4cvsf1To

— Comisión Nal. de Búsqueda Mx (@Busqueda_MX) August 6, 2021

The search took place in “La Bartolina,” a vast rural area east of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, used for years by the Gulf Cartel to kill and dispose of victims. Members of Mexico’s Federal Search Commission, Attorney General’s Office, and others released photographs of them searching in the killing field without the help of the mothers.

Valla que bien que hagan su trabajo, si la compañera @DeliaQuiroa no hace el video que por cierto la expuso, ustedes no se mueven, los familiares de desaparecidos en Tamaulipas tienen años pidiendo una búsqueda como debe de ser en este lugar ¿Porqué hasta hoy? ¿A qué le temen?…

— Omar Bello Pineda (@OmarBelloZihua) August 6, 2021

In 2016, Mexican officials tried to cover up the discovery of a clandestine incineration site in La Bartolina, claiming they were unable to determine if the remains were animal or human. For several years now, the Gulf Cartel has terrorized Matamoros with deadly ransom kidnappings. It remains unclear how many were taken to La Bartolina.

Since then, Mexico’s federal government has confirmed the discovery of human remains at La Bartolina but stopped searching earlier this year. Since then, the Union of Collectives of Searching Mothers of Tamaulipas has pressured officials at the federal and state levels to continue looking in La Bartolina–revealing that most of the property in question is still untouched.

In their desperation, the activists published an open letter to Mexico’s Gulf Cartel begging for permission to search La Bartolina, claiming they just wanted closure in the face of government inaction.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.