A tragic event unfolded in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco on August 11 when five students became victims of a vicious cartel scheme.
Lured by a misleading job opportunity, students Roberto Olmeda Cuellar, Dante Cedillo Hernández, Jaime Adolfo Martinez Miranda, Diego Alberto Lara Santoyo, and Uriel Galván González, aged between 19 and 22, were abducted by an armed group.
The cartel, disguising their intention under the offer of security guard positions, instead forced the students into a brutal induction, mandating them to execute an assassination.
Their deaths became publicly known through a video that was disseminated on social platforms, evoking widespread condemnation and distress. The horrific video showed the five on their knees, with duct tape on their mouths, their faces bleeding and bruised. The men were made to lie down, and one of the five ordered to beat, stab and decapitate another.
In a subsequent search, investigators located a farm with four charred bodies and are currently trying to confirm their identities. A fifth deceased individual was discovered in one of the student’s burned vehicles.
Suspicions have arisen surrounding the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and their purported recruitment strategy involving bogus call centers. These centers, allegedly operated by the cartel, are used to trap individuals with counterfeit employment opportunities, only to ensnare them into the cartel’s web.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is facing scrutiny for his handling of such incidents, with many demanding more stringent action against cartel activities.
Governor Enrique Alfaro of Jalisco is appealing to the national government for a more direct intervention, focusing on the rampant issues of organized crime.