Human remains found in 45 bags belong to missing call center workers

Human remains, found in 45 bags, belong to call center workers who went missing in May, Mexican authorities have confirmed.

The Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (IJCF) said Tuesday its tests had confirmed the remains belonged to the missing workers and said the next of kin had been informed. It did not specify whether remains from all seven of the missing workers were in the bags.

Some 7 workers were missing from the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara shortly after May 20. The search for them took a grisly turn last week, when bags containing human body parts were found in a ravine in the municipality of Zapopan.

Mexico's Secretary of Security Rosa Icela Rodriguez Velazquez said last month that initial investigations suggest the workers might have been involved in some type of real estate fraud and phone extortion. CNN cannot independently verify the Secretary of Security's claims.

An outbreak of disappearances has been a problem in Mexico, with more than 100,000 Mexicans and migrants still missing.

More than 1,500 bodies have been found in Jalisco state since 2018, officials said. According to the office of the Jalisco Special Prosecutor for missing persons, 291 bodies were discovered in 2019, 544 bodies in 2020, 280 bodies in 2021, and 301 the following year. The bodies have been found so far in 2023.

In March, Mexican President Andr's Manuel L. pez Obrador asserted that Mexico is a safer nation than the United States, after four Americans were kidnapped in Mexico.

Human trafficking and kidnapping are common in parts of Mexico, especially in border areas, and Mexico's overall homicide rate is among the highest in the world.