Foreign Affairs

Mass Grave Found Near Border, Thought To Be Linked To Cartel Rivalries: Report

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At least 11 bodies were found in unmarked graves with suspected links to Mexican cartel rivalries three hours southwest of El Paso, Texas, according to the Border Report on Monday.

The 11 bodies were found in a farming community near Nuevo Casas Grandes, in the northwest Chihuahua corridor by Mexican federal police, the National Guard, and the National Commission for the Search of Disappeared Persons, though officials did not officially release the identities, according to the Border Report.

An alleged La Linea drug cartel member Cruz Iván, also known as “El Cholo,” 28, told Mexican officials about the graves during an investigative interrogation into the mass murder of the nine Americans, Mexican newspaper Diario de Juarez reported Sunday. The Americans, three women and six children from a Mormon community called the Lebaron family were murdered on Nov. 4, 2019.

Another alleged member of La Linea drug cartel linked to murder of 9 Americanshttps://t.co/uiTw88Qn68

— WREG News Channel 3 (@3onyourside) September 30, 2020

Iván allegedly supervised the burials of rivals for La Linea, the remains of the Juarez cartel who have been at war with the Sinaloa cartel since 2004, TorchStone Global Vice President Scott Stewart said, according to the Border Report. He reportedly received treatment for a gunshot wound in Juarez, Mexico, before he was taken to a maximum-security federal prison in Mexico City.

The bodies discovered likely belonged to Los Salazar and Gente Nueva factions of the Sinaloa cartel or independent drug dealers who the La Linea had competition with, Stewart said, according to the Border Report. Federal authorities did not release an official report regarding the identity, condition, or any details about the bodies they found, Diario reported.

Mexican officials reportedly said La Linea members believed the LeBaron family to be Sinaloa rivals as they traveled in three vehicles near the Chihuahua – Sonora border, according to the Border Report.

Jose Alfredo Lara Ontiveros was the 12th suspect arrested in connection with the murders in Juarez, Mexico, earlier this month, according to the Border Report.

The U.S. Department of State, Customs and Border Protection, and Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Relations did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.