Eight call centre workers were killed and dumped in plastic bags by a violent Mexican cartel after they reportedly tried to quit their scam jobs.
US and Mexican officials confirmed the horrific story that unfolded late last month when relatives of the youths reported them missing after they did not return from work in an office near the western city of Guadalajara.
Suspicions rose last week when heaps of hacked-up body parts were found in plastic bags.
Forensic examiners in the western state of Jalisco said in a statement Monday that tests had confirmed the bodies belonged to the missing call centre workers.
A total of six men and two women were reported missing between May 20 and May 22, but the forensic examiners did not mention the number of confirmed identities.
There had been doubts about whether one of the youths was among the bodies found.
While the families believed their children worked at a normal call centre, the office was in fact run by the Jalisco New Generation cartel, Mexico’s most violent gang.
The cartel has branched out beyond its traditional business of drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping.
Officials confirmed the cartel now operates call centres that scam money from Americans and Canadians through fake offers to buy their timeshares.
Jalisco officials did not offer a motive in the killings of the workers, all but two of whom were under 30.
But a US official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue said it appeared the youths were killed by the Jalisco cartel after they tried to quit their jobs.
“Best guess is these kids had decided they wanted out of the business,” the US official said, adding the cartel was “sending a message to other defectors.”
“It appears this has happened before,” the official added.
The Jalisco cartel, known by its initials as the CJNG, is famous for its ruthless treatment of supposed traitors, informants or turncoats.
For those who have worked for the cartel, knowingly or unknowingly, it appears to be an unwritten rule that the only way out of the gang is death or prison.
An activist group for families of the disappeared, “Por Amor a Ellxs” — roughly, “For Love of Them” — said there are around 15,000 missing people in Jalisco, out of a total of about 112,000 nationwide.
Call centres are a major source of employment in Mexico for young people or migrants who may have learned English in the US, but who have returned to Mexico.
