Mexico Calls in Federal Police to Solve Mass Killing Mystery
by Jeremy McDermott
Federal investigators have been drafted in to solve one of Mexico’s longest-running murder mysteries: the killing of more than 300 young women near the city of Ciudad Juarez.
The authorities have been called in amid mounting criticism of the way the local police force has handled the investigation and fresh allegations that some of the women were the victims of an organ-trafficking ring selling body parts to wealthy US clients.
"We are happy they have finally arrived," said Marisela Ortiz, a spokeswoman for ‘We Want Our Daughters to Return Home’, a group of family and friends of victims in Ciudad Juarez, which sits on the US border. A teacher, Ortiz set up the group after one of her students was murdered in 2001.
For more than 10 years the bodies of women have been turning up in the desert around the city. Of the 300 women who have been killed during that time, the murders of 93 have followed a pattern. The victims have been young, slim and dark, most strangled, raped and left half-clothed in the desert.
Murder, including serial killings, fall under the jurisdiction of state authorities. In the case of Ciudad Juarez, those of Chihuahua and state police have jealously guarded their rights, refusing to co-operate with federal authorities.
But last month a suspect was arrested after a prostitute was found with the mobile phone of one of the victims. She said she had been given it by a street vendor who admitted involvement, but said he had not killed anyone. He alleges he was paid to remove the dissected bodies of three women from the bathroom of a home, wrapped in blood-soaked sheets, and bury them in vacant lots. He said the bodies had been "hollowed out". The organ-trafficking theory has been reinforced by media reports that some of the bodies found in the desert had been refrigerated before being dumped.
Organ trafficking is a federal offence and Jose Vasconcelos, the federal prosecutor in charge of organised crime, wasted no time in taking over the investigation. Federal agents are looking for a US citizen, allegedly part of an organ-trafficking ring north of the border.
However, many officials do not believe the organ-trafficking theory, as doctors who have performed autopsies on the victims never mentioned missing organs. Rather it seems to be a convenient excuse for federal authorities to get involved in a case that has become a source of national shame.
Vasconcelos said agents were also examining the possibility that violent religious sects were involved, since some of the victims had had their breasts cut off and others had scars showing an apparent design. Another line of investigation is dealers in pornography.
An FBI source from the American city of El Paso believed that there was no single explanation for the murders and that people had used the serial-killer theory to commit their own atrocities.
The only thing that is certain is that young women continue to be found dead in the desert around Ciudad Juarez. The hope is that somehow, with the involvement of federal agents, the killing will stop.
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