Head of Mexico’s Agency on Finding Disappeared People Resigns
The resignation comes amid a government review of the agency’s work; some human rights groups have voiced concerns that the government is trying to underestimate the number of disappeared people ahead of upcoming elections (FT)
More than 100,000 people are missing, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Thirteen Found Dead in Veracruz State
Police found the bodies of the dead in a freezer while pursuing a suspect in a building where three kidnapped victims were held (AFP)
Authorities Find 491 Migrants in Compound Near Mexico City
Over half of the migrants are children and adolescents, and nearly all of them are Guatemalan; smugglers frequently use such compounds to hide migrants before sending them on trucks or buses to the U.S. border (CBS)
Appeals Court Allows Contested Biden Rule on Asylum at Southern Border to Remain
The court gave temporary permission for the Joe Biden administration to continue to enforce restrictions on applying for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border that had previously been ruled illegal; illegal border crossings have dropped sharply since the new rule took effect in May (AP)
Mexican Authorities Find Two Dead in Rio Grande Buoy Barrier at U.S. Border
The bodies were entangled in buoys put in place by Texan authorities to deter migrant crossings; the cause of death and nationality of the individuals remain unknown (ABC)
Mexico’s President Disputes U.S. Assessment of Cartel Strength
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pushed back against U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates of the number of cartel members and the extent of their presence, saying they “don’t have good information” (NBC)
Meanwhile, the Biden administration said it would grant refugee status to some migrants waiting in Mexico, providing them a path to permanent residency and citizenship (CBS)
Independent Probe of Mexico’s 43 Missing Students Ends Over Government Obstruction
The independent investigators commissioned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said Mexico’s government had repeatedly misled them during their investigation into the disappearance of forty-three students from a rural teachers college in 2014 (NYT)
Twenty-Seven Bodies Found in Northern Mexico Border Town
Volunteers found sixteen burial pits near the town of Reynosa, four miles from the U.S. border, where gangs recently disposed of victims’ bodies; Mexico has more than 110,000 missing people, many of whom are feared to be dead and buried at similar mass graves across the country (NBC)
Mexican Journalist Gunned Down in Acapulco State
Nelson Matus, director of Lo Real de Guerrero, a local news organization that has covered the worsening violence in Guerrero state, was shot in his car after surviving two assassination attempts in recent years; journalists have increasingly fallen victim to an intensifying drug war in Mexico (ABC;Reuters)
Hundreds of Migrants Form Group to Travel North Through Mexico
Nearly a thousand people have banded together for the journey to the U.S. border after crossing into Mexico; migrants often face kidnapping, extortion, and violence in Mexico and are safer in large groups (ABC)
Meanwhile, Mexico says new floating barriers placed in the Rio Grande by Texas violate water treaties (NPR)
Kidnappers also released an American woman eight months after capturing her; no suspects have been named in the investigation (CBS)
Coordinated Explosions Kill Six, Wound Fourteen in Mexico
The seven bombs were reportedly planted as a trap for police in Jalisco state, and the attack marks the first time a cartel has killed law enforcement officers with improvised explosive devices; no group immediately claimed responsibility, but the Jalisco drug cartel has experience with improvised explosive devices (ABC)
Masked Assailants Kill Nine in Mexico Market Attack
The attackers fired shots and set fire to the country’s second-largest market in Toluca, the site of recent violence perpetrated by the Familia Michoacana cartel (Al Jazeera)
Meanwhile, the Los Ardillos gang is suspected of killing five taxi drivers in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state, where the group reportedly extorts transit operators (Prensa Latina)
Missing Journalist Found Dead in Nayarit State, Mexico
Authorities found the body of Luis Martín Sánchez Íñiguez with two messages attached to his chest and believe his murder to be linked to his work as a journalist for La Jornada; three journalists have been abducted in Nayarit state in the last week (BBC)
Meanwhile, there has been a significant drop in the number of unauthorized migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border due in part to steps that Mexico has taken, including busing and flying migrants from its northern border to the country’s interior; Mexico also for a time imposed a ban on issuing documents allowing migrants and refugees to stay in the country (NYT)
Bodies Left Strewn Around Toluca, Mexico
After the Familia Michoacana cartel placed threatening banners in the city last week, multiple bodies have been left gruesomely displayed nearby; the group is suspected to have carried out the killings as an intimidation tactic as it seeks to take the city (AP)
Cartel Violence Breaks Out in Michoacan
The Viagras gang blockaded roads and fired shots in the town of Apatzingan, reportedly fearing an offensive by the neighboring Jalisco cartel; the Mexican government sent in reinforcements to stop Jalisco’s advance (AP)
Mexican Vigilante Leader Killed, Community Threatens Retribution
Assailants killed Hipólito Mora, the leader of a civilian defense movement aimed at driving cartels out of Michoacan state, and three of his bodyguards; his brother says he will call for people to take up arms if the government does not bring justice for Mora’s death (AP)
Meanwhile, the Mexican Navy seized a “narco sub” carrying a suspected seven thousand pounds of cocaine (CBS)
Sixteen Police Employees Kidnapped in Southern Mexico
Authorities are still searching for the victims, who were abducted on a highway in Chiapas state; the state has mostly been spared from cartel violence, but Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the incident was connected to a battle between rival gangs (CBS;Guardian)
Separately, at least one explosive device detonated at a police station in the same state (ABC)
Meanwhile, two-thirds of migrants surveyed for a new report said they fell victim to fraud or misinformation, often resulting in theft, while trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border (AP)
Mexico Considers Granting Navy Control of Capital Airport
The Navy already handles security at Mexico City International Airport, and the government says increased military involvement in aviation reduces drug trafficking and smuggling (Reuters)
Former Mexican Anti-Kidnapping Official Arrested in Probe of Disappeared Students
The former official for the attorney general’s office was arrested in connection with the disappearance of forty-three students in 2014, Mexico’s undersecretary for human rights, population, and migration said; eight soldiers are also facing charges related to the case (EFE)
Mexico Destroys Homemade Armored Cars Used by Cartels
The fourteen vehicles were seized in northern Mexico, where similar vehicles and bomb-dropping drones are used in battles between the Northeast and Gulf cartels (ABC)
129 Migrants Found in Truck Amid Mexican Heat Wave
Authorities in Veracruz state, where temperatures reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit, found the migrants, mainly from Central America, in an overcrowded space and arrested four traffickers (Reuters)
U.S. Suspends Asylum Appointments at Dangerous Southern Border Crossing Following Extortion Reports
Asylum seekers hoping to cross the border at Nuevo Laredo, where migrants are regularly kidnapped and extorted, can no longer schedule appointments in Laredo, Mexico, complicating their journey to the United States (Reuters)
Mexican Soldiers Arrested in Connection to Executions of Five Men
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the soldiers’ execution of five men near the U.S. border was unacceptable, as questions arise over his heavy reliance on the military for law enforcement (CBS)
Eight Found Dead in Ravine in Mexico’s Jalisco State
Tests suggest the remains are those of eight workers who disappeared from a call center thought to be a front for an illegal estate agency run by the Jalisco New Generation cartel (BBC)
Ten Dead in Highway Shootout
Authorities seized three armored vehicles and twelve weapons after heavily armed suspected criminals attacked and injured four police officers on the Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo highway, dubbed the “highway of death” by local media, in Nuevo Leon state (Reuters, AP)