The arrest followed Mexican President Sheinbaum’s refusal of U.S. President Trump’s offered to send troops into Mexico to help combat the drug cartels.
A mayor in western Mexico has been arrested in connection with a stalled probe into a suspected drug cartel training camp, where human remains and clothing were found last September.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a violent drug trafficking group, has been accused by Mexican authorities of operating the Rancho Izaguirre in Jalisco state to train newly recruited gunmen.
Santiago was arrested on May 3 as part of an investigation by government prosecutors into probable omissions or complicity of local authorities with the Jalisco New Generation cartel, a federal source told the AFP wire service on May 3.
Relatives searching for missing family members were tipped off by an anonymous source about the site in March, and went to the ranch, where they reported finding bone fragments and hundreds of pieces of clothing. Many said the ranch could have been a mass killing site.
However, Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero told the media last month he could not confirm there were human remains at the site besides the initial body found there by National Guard troops last September.
He also said that the state Human Rights Commission had formally informed local authorities of the ranch in 2021, but no action was taken.
According to the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office at the time, authorities arrested 10 people, freed two hostages, and discovered one body, describing the ranch as a cartel training site.
Investigators, armed with a backhoe, dogs, and devices to search the grounds, had attended the ranch to investigate, but the operation stalled without explanation.
After receiving the anonymous tip, the Jalisco Search Warriors group visited the Teuchitlán ranch in March, which sits about 37 miles from Guadalajara, to search for missing members of the community, according to news reports. Abductions remain a problem in Mexico due to cartel violence and crime, with many people disappearing or found dead.
The group said they found backpacks, dozens of shoes, piles of clothing, and what appeared to be human bone fragments. The disturbing findings sparked outrage within Mexico, prompting Mexico’s federal government to get involved in the investigation.
Following public pressure, the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office agreed to publish online photos of the shoes and other clothing items found at the ranch so that families searching for relatives can see them. Manero said that the pieces of evidence will also be made available to relatives.
However, members of the Jalisco Search Warriors have expressed disappointment at Manero’s public statements and response, saying they had sufficient evidence that bodies were burned at the site.
A group member, Raúl Servín, also said late April that a compatriot in the group, María del Carmen Morales, had been killed following their discovery in March.
The discovery came as President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Mexico through designating several Mexican criminal organizations as terrorist groups, while imposing tariffs in an effort to secure the U.S. southern border and counter fentanyl trafficking.
In February, the U.S. State Department designated the Jalisco New Generation, Sinaloa, Gulf, United, and Northeast cartels and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.
Policy analysts in the United States have said that the cartels operate as a shadow government within Mexico, making them difficult to dismantle.
The Mexican president said she was willing to work with Trump to counter the cartels but drew the line at allowing U.S. troops on Mexican soil.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
