Update, Aug. 18, 2023 at 7:10 PM:
Mexican authorities say five college students were abducted by a drug cartel after being lured by fake job offers in western Mexico.
The students were longtime friends seeking employment as security guards at a call center when they were brutally murdered on camera.
Police discovered human remains, including 4 charred skulls, in an abandoned home on Wednesday. The students were reported missing after going to a fair on Friday, Aug. 11.
Authorities found a car on fire with a body inside on Tuesday.
Locals say the five friends were overheard arguing with men who were members of the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Horrific video footage released by the drug cartel shows one of the students beheading his childhood friends.
The video, which was uploaded to Twitter, shows (L-R) Roberto Olmeda, 20; Diego Lara, 20; Uriel Galván, 19; Dante Cedillo, 22; and Jaime Martínez, 21, kneeling on the ground in front of a brick wall.
The five friends showed signs of torture. Their faces were bleeding and bruised and duct tape covered their mouths. Their hands were tied behind them.
According to DailyMail.com, Martinez (far right) was ordered to kill his friends to prove his loyalty to the cartel. Martinez quickly murdered his friends before the cartel killed him.
The chilling video shows Martinez beating Cedillo with a rock. A cartel member tossed a knife on the ground. Martinez picked it up and slashed Cedillo’s throat before beheading him.
The blood-soaked bodies of his three friends lay nearby.
This image shows an abandoned house where the human remains were found. The walls and floor are blood-stained. Graffiti on one wall reads: “A slaughtering is the best medicine.”
Jalisco state authorities believe an enforcement unit of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel lured the friends by posting fake job offers with good salaries and benefits.
The call center is allegedly operated by the cartel members, who force job seekers to join their organization. They are ordered to work for the cartel or be killed.
“In the last two years or so in various regions surrounding Lagos de Moreno a series of training and recruitment centers have emerged,” David Saucedo, a security analyst, told a newspaper.
“The five young people who were kidnapped seem by all indications to have been caught in some sort of training program by the Jalisco Cartel, which sets tests for the new recruits – forcing them to carry out assassinations,” he added.
This post was originally published on: Aug 18, 2023 at 8:43 AM.
