BAJA BONEYARD

"El Pozolero": 10,500 Bones Found in Narcofosa La Gallera

Borderland Beat from Zeta
September 9, 2017

Tijuana, BC -- Six years after the first human remains were found at the site where "El Pozolero" dissolved 300 bodies in acid, 10, 000 additional bone fragments were found, which represent a new hope for the families of missing persons.

The United Association for the Disappeared in Baja California, headed by Fernando Ocegueda, will initiate a state campaign jointly with federal authorities to take genetic samples of relatives of missing persons in all of Baja California in an attempt to identify the more than 100 kilos of bones found recently.

About 10, 500 bone fragments with a total weight of 100 kilograms were the results of the search in La Gallera, conducted by the United Association for the Disappeared of Baja California, presided over by Fernando Ocegueda Flores, in collaboration with experts in genetics and forensic anthropologists of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Investigation of Organized Crime (SEIDO), under the Attorney General's Office (PGR).

La Gallera (the Cockpit) is the name of the property located on the Calle Cioac in the Ejido Maclovio Rojas, where Santiago Meza López, "El Pozolero" dissolved in acid about 300 bodies, according to his own confession when he was arrested in 2009.

The most recent excavations were made on a surface of one square meter located at the bottom of the land, just five meters from the two narcofosas found in 2011, in which Meza López discarded the human remains.

According to Ocegueda Flores, who was interviewed by the PGR, declared on August 9 that La Gallera property had "not been reviewed well" and provided information for further searches. Therefore, agents of SEIDO contacted the activist again on Thursday August 10 and asked him to temporarily suspend his group's searches elsewhere to focus their efforts in La Gallera.

On Tuesday, August 15 federal authorities with trained cadaver dogs inspected the site and once they detected the remains, experts in genetics and forensic anthropologists entered to begin identifying the body parts and labeling them.

This first phase of search was completed on Tuesday, August 22, and the remains were taken to the laboratories of the National Security Council, in Mexico City, where they will perform the respective DNA tests.

Ocegueda Flores assured us that he will continue to work in La Gallera until September 2, to follow up the tests and be more closely involved in the process and thus prevent these human remains from being archived or stored in warehouses.

Victims of "El Pozolero":

The activist, who founded the United Association for the Disappeared in Baja California, searches for his own son who was kidnapped and disappeared in 2007. He has joined forces with relatives of other missing people in the region to get the Federal Government to collaborate in these searches.

Among the multiple declarations of detainees collected by authorities, Santiago Meza López's own statement, produced the greatest results as to the locations used to bury or abandon the remains of hi victims.

According to criminal investigations, Meza López, originally from Guamúchil, Sinaloa, worked as a bricklayer until he was employed by Teodoro García Simental, "El Teo", who was formerly the chief of hired hitmen of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF) and later criminally sponsored by the Sinaloa Cartel.

For four years, "El Pozolero", nicknamed as such for using acid to dissolve bodies that were taken by other members of the CAF by disappearance, used the property known as La Gallera for these purposes.

Some of the remains were poured into a pipe connecting the two clandestine graves, originally found, which were of a very small size. The remains located this last week are larger, so Ocegueda Flores says that authorities are studying the possibility that some of the bodies were buried and not dissolved in acid.

The group found the location of the property thanks to a previous investigation:

Ocegueda Flores shared with ZETA in 2011, he and a group of people found the exact point of the La Gallera property, thanks to a preliminary investigation prompted by a statement by Meza Lopez,"El Pozolero".

At the time Zeta was assured that the information was shared with the group and the authorities anonymously and they mentioned the address of the property, but it took them a year to actually find the site, since in those years the Ejido Maclovia Rojas was not developed; but with the help of GPS locators and continuous brigades exploring and patrolling the area, they finally found the exact location of the property.

Once they located the site, the extraction of human remains from the graves extended for two months; in large measure because the activists did the work on their own without help or guidance from the federal authorities. Because the bones were exposed to moisture and due to the large amount of organic matter that surrounded them, it led to decomposition, thus DNA evidence could not be obtained from them.

"A hunch" took Flores back to the ranch property three months ago, without any information about it and after searching in a specific location, they found a femur, which made them establish a new line of investigation, but did not give it continuity until the authorities informed them of the recent declaration of a detainee, namely: Santiago Meza Lopez, "El Pozolero". Finally, this was the information which led to all the new search which, oddly enough, coincided with the date of August 20, the date the International Day of the Disappeared is commemorated.

As in other years, on that day, relatives of the disappeared brought flowers and candles to the place to remember their loved ones. An agent of the Federal Public Ministry also attended, who promised to expedite the taking of DNA samples to be able to find matches with relatives, according to Ocegueda Flores.

Searches in other properties used by "El Pozolero":

The president of the United Associated for the Disappeared of Baja California indicated that two other rural properties used by "El Pozolero" were inspected in 2016. One of them, located in Ejido Ojo de Agua, the group located about 1, 200 human remains, between bones, teeth and dentures.

The other locatation in Loma Bonita they found at least 2 thousand pieces of human remains. However, of all the bones, only 12 DNA profiles could be obtained, the rest were contaminated by chemicals, but none of the 12 genetic profiles served to make the connections with the blood samples, and therefore forensic experts were unable to identify individual skeletal remains.

Relatives of the disappeared can contribute their DNA for matching:

September 3 the group will continue with the search for bone fragments and remains at the locations, said Fernando Acegueda Flores. They will be present when representatives of the National Security Council and SEIDO will give statements of all findings and results of the tests.

In addition, he will be accompanied by the head of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the State Commission for Human Rights of Baja California (CEDHBC), but clarified that officials of the State Government, the State of Baja California Government ie, will not be invited because the relatives are "very disappointed" in its performance over these years.

They now are going to start an information campaign in the five municipalities of Baja California starting September 5. The goal is for people with a missing family to go to one of the modules that will be set up for DNA capture. This would allow for the creation of a larger gene pool. This project will be available for 15 days; and hopefully by the end of September the results can be analyzed. The group does not rule out that in the newly located graves, remains of inhabitants of other municipalities could have been found.

Ocegueda said that the search on the property of La Gallera, with an approximate extension of 100 square meters, will take the time necessary until all the hidden remains have been recovered.

Finally, after that extensive work, the group will be able to make an installation of the project: "Memorial for the Disappeared" planned since 2013, when the PGR agreed to donate the property to the association.

CEDHBC, pending the whole process:

Due to the discovery of these human remains in the city, the CEDHBC confirmed to ZETA that as an institution they have maintained contact with the relatives of the disappeared, through the United Association for the Disappeared of Baja California, to offer attention to the victims.

In addition, they opened a file asking the PGR, the authority in charge of this search, as well as the Attorney General's Office in the State (PGJE), for information regarding the victims, since the Commission has registered about 30 cases and, after the recent finding, it is necessary to carry out a new exchange of information.

These cases are in file 310/2015, which were presented by relatives of missing persons, but it is mainly due to the lack of diligence of the PGJE investigation teams that the investigations have been lagging;
meanwhile, the PGJE also claims to: "seek the truth of such disappearances."

The CNDH and the UADBC insists on working on a "stronger legal framework" for protecting the human rights of victims of crime and human rights violations. In this way, a regulatory law in this area would "enforce the rights of victims to truth, justice and integral reparation based on institutions, procedures and mechanisms to ensure their realization."

"There is hope to provide tranquility to families":

For Fernando Ocegueda Flores, this finding and the combined work of the CNDH and UADBC itself means "a new hope for our families" in the entity. After so many years of not having results, this opens a window of opportunity to be able to obtain these DNA tests and in time give some families peace of mind.

"It was not one, not two months, it took six years to return to this place; I think it is extremely valuable that a detainee has given this information and although this is only the beginning of a process, we are very hopeful that by the end of this month, we are delivering bone remains with DNA to some families to close their family search cycle,"said activist Fernando Acegueda Flores for the United Association of the Disappeared of Baja California.