Cartel recruitment in Jalisco: There were two options: Undergo three months of training or be shot in the head'

"They pay for a bus ticket from his village to the city terminal. From there, they order him a cab. Everything is going well, until, suddenly, the driver threatens him and takes his belongings. A while later, he arrives at a warehouse in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere. He sees armed people, and others like him. And then, it is explained to him that he has been brought there to become a hitman"

"The case of the La Vega ranch inevitably brings to mind another cartel atrocity: the Izaguirre ranch, located only 20-25 kilometers from La Vega, which became world-famous in March of this year after the discovery of thousands of items of clothing, bone fragments, and the remains of clandestine crematoriums. The findings led citizens to suspect the worst: the CJNG not only trained recruits, but also killed those who rebelled."

A 20-year-old man from Jalisco responded to a job offer on Facebook and was lured from his village to Guadalajara before being abducted and transported to a rural warehouse called La Vega. Armed men told him he had been brought to become a hitman and threatened death for any escape. He was one of 38 mostly young men taken from modest lives across regions, many recruited through Facebook or TikTok. The victims later gave statements to a judge after rescue. The La Vega case evokes the nearby Izaguirre ranch, where clothing, bone fragments, and clandestine crematorium remains suggested recruits were killed.

Read at english.elpais.com