Mexico Turned into a Drug Cartel Empire... '61,000 Officially Missing'

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The number of missing persons in Mexico has been counted at over 61,000. The rapid increase in missing persons, influenced by crimes committed by notorious drug cartels, is causing growing concern.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

On the 6th (local time), the Mexican National Search Commission for Missing Persons announced that since 1964, the number of missing persons in Mexico has reached 61,637. Chairwoman Carla Quintana said, "The number itself is terrifying, but behind it lies the immense suffering of families."

In the 1960s, the number of missing persons was only in the hundreds. Since the Mexican government launched its war on drugs in 2006, the number of missing persons has surged. As a result, 97% of all missing persons have disappeared since 2006. Previously, in April 2018, the Mexican government disclosed the number of missing persons, which was in the 40,000 range at that time.

Experts say missing persons occur for various reasons. For example, criminals kill people and dispose of bodies to leave no evidence. In other cases, people are made to disappear to instill fear in others.

Chairwoman Quintana revealed that more than 5,000 people went missing and could not be found just last year.

Several foreign media outlets have already pointed out Mexico's serious problem. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) introduced stories of mothers digging up the ground with shovels to find the bodies of their children.

According to the report, the mothers wore shirts with the phrase, "I’ll search for you until I find you."

Families with missing members, especially mothers, are said to be gathering in groups to search valleys and piles of garbage for their loved ones.

Since the inauguration of Mexican President Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador, the Mexican government has discovered 873 clandestine graves containing 1,124 bodies. Most of the bodies were concentrated in states notorious for drug trafficking and crime, such as Sinaloa, Jalisco, Colima, Sonora, and Chihuahua.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.