Mexican scientists create mass graves of pigs in the hope that one day it will lead to the discoveries of a Cartel victim

Then they watch.

The pigs play an in a role that is unlikely Amazing number of people who lost In Mexico, during decades of drug cartel violence.

Missing families are usually left to search for their loved ones with a little support from the authorities. But now, government scientists test the latest techniques of geophysical, geophysical and biological maps – along with pigs – to provide evidence that they hope to discover at least some bodies.

130,000 missing and count

The missing ranks of Mexico exploded in the years that followed the launch of the Felipe Calderon war at the time against drug gangs in 2006. The strategy that targeted leaders of a handful of strong cartals led to the defection of organized crime and the multiplication of violence to control lands.

With the escalation of near punishment, due to the complicity or inaction of the authorities, the cartals found that anyone who believed that he disappeared was better than leaving the bodies on the street. Sometimes, Mexican administrations were not unwilling to recognize the problem and at other times stumbled due to the volume of violence, the judicial system is not ready for treatment.

Mexico can fill a small city. In 2013, the official data achieved 26,000 missing, but the count now exceeds 130,000 – more than any other country in Latin America. The United Nations said that there are indications that resources are “generalized or systematic.”

If missing people – dead or alive – are usually found by their loved ones. It is guided by information from witnesses, fathers and siblings looking for graves by walking across the cartele, and drowning a metal rod on the ground and inhale the smell of death.

About 6000 secret hat has been found since 2007, and new discoveries have been discovered all the time. Tens of thousands of remains have not yet been identified.

Creative solutions test

Gallisco, Which is home to the new Generation Cartel, has the largest number of people reported in Mexico: 15500. In March, Human bone fragments Hundreds of clothes were discovered on the state’s Cartel Farm. The authorities denied that it was a site Collective grave.

“Why are we here.”.

The appointment project, which was launched in 2023, is the cooperation of the University of Guadalakara, the Independent National University in Mexico and the University of Oxford in England, along with the research committee in Gallisco, a government agency regulating local inspections with relatives.

“There is no other country that is severely pressure, creatively,” said Derek, a Canadian forensic, who inspired his experience in geographical information systems.

However, Gram warns, technology is not a drug.

He said: “The ninety percent of the searches are resolved with a good witness and dug.”

Plants, insects, and pigs decomposing

Silvan is walking next to a site that scientists have buried 14 boys about two years ago. They say they may not know how successful technology, where it can be used, or in any circumstances, for at least three years.

“The flowers appeared because of the phosphorous on the surface, and we did not see that last year,” he said studying measurements in a cemetery. “Mothers who are looking for this small yellow flower always open over the graves and use it as evidence.”

Pigs and humans are closely related, as they shared about 98 % of the DNA. But for the appointment project, the physical similarities are also important. According to the United States The National Library of Medicine, Human pigs are similar to size, fat distribution, structure and skin thickness.

A large Colombian plane installed on a spectrum camera on the pork site. The camera is generally used by mining companies, and it measures the reflected light of materials in the soil, including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, and explains how they differ with pigs decomposition. The color image produced by evidence provides what you are looking for in searching for graves.

“This is not pure science,” Silvan said. “It is science and action. Everything must be applied immediately, rather than waiting for it to ripen, because there is urgency.”

Researchers also use heat aircraft, laser lights and other tools to record abnormal cases, underground movements and electrical currents. One group of graves is wrapped behind a part of the transparent acrylic, providing a window for scientists to monitor pigs in actual time.

The JALISCO Committee, the analysis of flies, beetles, plants, and soils are compared to human boats and pigs.

Tonwari Chavez, director of context analysis at the committee, said that every grave is a “small ecosystem”.

Science to serve the community

Disappearance 43 students in 2014Silvan and his colleagues began collecting information about the frequency radar, electrical resistance and satellite images from all over the world. They studied the University of Tennessee’s research on the human bodies buried in the “body farm”. They looked at the techniques of the grave mapping used in the Balkans, Colombia and Ukraine.

“What is the benefit of science or technology if it does not solve problems?” He said.

They have learned new satellite analysis applications, then they started their first experiences in burying pigs and Study the materials used by the material criminals To get rid of bodies. They found that lime is easily discovered, but hydrocarbons, hydrochloric acid and burning meat are not.

The Chavez team worked to combine the flag with what they knew about how the cartridge works. For example, they decided that the disappearances in Galisco usually occurred along the Cartel roads between the Pacific Ports and the American Drug Manufacturing Facilities, and that most missing persons are present in the same municipality where they disappeared.

Relatives of experts

The experience of missing families is also learned to search.

Some have noticed that graves are often found under trees whose roots grow vertically, so the pits in the graves can remain in the shade. Silvan said that the mothers of the missing loved ones that the researchers invited to visit one of the pig burial sites managed to identify most unique graves by sight alone, due to plants and soil.

“Knowledge flows in both directions,” he said.

Maribel Sidiano, who was looking for her missing brother for four years, said she believes that drones and other technology will be useful.

“I never imagined that I would be in this situation, find bodies, and I became an expert,” she said.

Héctor Flores has been looking for his son since 2021. He has been wondering why he invests a lot of time and effort in methods that did not lead to concrete discoveries, when families have proven recorded records with little official support.

Although the research has not yet ended, the JALISCO Research Committee already uses a thermal drone, a laser scanner and a multi -spectrum camera to help families search for their missing relatives in some cases. But it is unclear whether the authorities around Mexico will be ready to use or be able to withstand their costs.

A hormone, a forensic scientist, said that researchers are aware of technology restrictions, but “you always have to try, fail, fail again and continue to try.”