House of Horrors Discovered on Cartel Killing Field Just Miles from the US Border
While many eyes are fixed on the Ukraine-Russia war, there are horrors going on much closer to home as the horrifically violent Mexican cartels continue operations just south of the U.S. border.
If you’ve seen the movie “Sicario,” you may have an idea of just how bad the situation just south of the U.S. is. The opening scene of the movie shows American agents storming into a suspected Mexican cartel house and discovering dozens of bodies hidden in the walls.
While the movie paints a sickening picture that many might assume is a theatrical exaggeration, the reality in Mexico is actually much worse than any movie can depict.
Several months ago, an “extermination site” was discovered on the outskirts of Nuevo Laredo, the Associated Press reported.
But there weren’t just dozens of bodies hidden in the walls. This extermination site appears to have been a makeshift crematorium for who knows how many people.
In a broken-down house and across about 75,000 square feet of desert scrubland, countless remains have been found.
The site was discovered last fall by the Mexican government, KXAS-TV News reported.
“The characteristics of the place allow the inference that it is an extermination site that has been used for years and until very recently, which will have to be confirmed by experts. This is the first site of these dimensions found in Nuevo Laredo,” the National Search Commission said.
Investigators have been working on the site for months. After six months, forensic technicians are still hesitant to estimate how many bodies there could be on the property. In one room, the compacted burnt human remains and various debris were nearly 2 feet deep, the AP reported.
Fragments, such as a burned foot, earrings, clothing, bones and more have been uncovered every day.
The location seems to have served as a mass grave and crematorium for cartels in the region, the National Search Commission said when they found it.
The cruelty and violence of the Mexican cartels is unmatched as they dominate the drug and human trafficking trade in this part of the world.
Mexican authorities are overwhelmed with nearly 100,000 missing person cases, the AP reported. On top of that, there are about 52,000 unidentified bodies in morgues and cemeteries. That number does not include extermination sites like the Nuevo Laredo one.
The impact on the U.S. from cartel activity is clear. This extermination site, for example, lies very close to the U.S. border. People were being burned and buried just a few miles from American homes.
But it’s not just proximity that affects Americans. This has an obvious impact on the safety of American border communities and also on immigration.
At the end of January, ABC News reported that 35,000 Mexicans have been displaced by cartel violence in western Mexico alone.
“In terms of safety, we are worse than ever,” Hipolito Mora, a founder and former leader of the 2013-2014 vigilante self-defense movement in Michoacan, according to the AP.
The competing Mexican cartels have been dangerous and violent for years, but in the past year there has been a noted uptick in extremity and violence. This has created thousands of asylum seekers, coming to the U.S. and contributing to the massive immigration surge that has been going on for months now, as the El Paso Times reported.
The cartel violence has been going on for years and deteriorating Mexican communities. But as time goes on and there are surges in inter-cartel fighting and violence, it makes things more complicated for the U.S.
It is a messy situation and there is no one solution for the problem. But while other events and wars, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, may capture the public’s eye, Americans should not forget what is happening much closer to home. These horrors are just a few miles away for thousands of Americans.
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