The families of seven young people between 14 and 18 years of age urge the authorities to intensify the search for the group, most of them minors, after being kidnapped by armed individuals from a home in Zacatecas, in the center of the country, last Sunday, December 24. September. Concerns increase after authorities reported that they found a vehicle in which the kidnapping would have been carried out. The parents ask for speed in the operations, since with the passing of the days the risks for the missing increase.
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Once again, several Mexican families are living days of anguish and despair as they do not know the fate of their children after being kidnapped by armed groups.
In the midst of the wave of violence that the city of Zacatecas is facing due to the dispute between drug trafficking cartels, five minors, between 14 and 17 years old, and two 18-year-olds were kidnapped from a home last Sunday.
The events were recorded when armed individuals not yet identified attacked them at a ranch called El Potrerito, where the young people had a meeting, according to the accounts of some witnesses. Three of the missing are cousins and the rest are friends.
The state prosecutor, Francisco Murillo, indicated that the kidnapping took place after the meeting, while the young people were sleeping. Although no details of the investigation have been revealed, the official ruled out that it was a case of forced recruitment by organized crime. “I think this is not the case with these young people,” he said.
Every minute that passes is vital, this is a martyrdom
The authorities indicate that the investigations are progressing and that as a result of their operations, on Tuesday, September 26, they found the vehicle in which the kidnapping would have been carried out.
“The investigation is being carried out, we cannot report more, we are working,” said the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, this Wednesday, September 27, in his usual morning press conference.
But relatives maintain that the measures taken have been insufficient and urge his prompt location. “As long as we don’t know where they are, there is no progress for us. Every minute that passes is vital, that’s why our despair, this is already a martyrdom, every minute that passes we only imagine what our children may be suffering,” said some of the parents, interviewed by the local newspaper ‘El Universal’.
“They left alive, we want them alive”
On Tuesday, the young people’s loved ones blocked a road near the place where the victims were kidnapped to demand speed in the search.
There, relatives demonstrated with posters, in which they displayed messages such as “They left alive, we want them alive” and “Justice.”
By blocking a highway for almost 8 hours, parents and relatives of the seven teenagers kidnapped at the El Potrerito ranch, in Zacatecas, demanded results in the search.https://t.co/i2fr5M3fyH
— Process (@process) September 27, 2023
This situation echoes other cases of forced disappearance in the country.
Just two months ago, five young people, friends since childhood and between the ages of 19 and 22, were kidnapped while they were meeting at a viewpoint in their city, Lagos de Moreno; one of the towns in the state of Jalisco most affected by violence and drug trafficking in recent years.
This fact generated great consternation, especially after horror images were released that revealed the cruelty with which they were held and murdered. However, the case has not yet been resolved.
Tuesday, September 26, also marked nine years since the disappearance of the 43 normalista students from Ayotzinapa. A regrettable story that remains unclarified, while parents denounce the alleged involvement of State security forces.
With EFE and local media
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