Mothers searching for missing children in Mexico seek truce with cartel to allow authorities to dig up a property where bodies of their loved ones could be buried

Tamaulipas Union of Collectives of Searching Mothers asked the Gulf Cartel's Cyclones of Matamoros faction for a peace deal last Friday
The group wants to search a property in the Matamoros, Tamaulipas, village of La Bartolina where it hopes to find the remains of their missing loved ones
The collective issued a statement last week telling the cartel, 'We are not looking for culprits, we are searching for our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and relatives'
La Bartolina is located approximately seven miles from Brownsville, Texas
Since 2017, authorities searching through mass graves in La Bartolina have dug out 500 kilos of human remains

Published: 21:56 BST, 3 August 2021 | Updated: 22:02 BST, 3 August 2021

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A group of mothers searching for their missing children have pleaded to a Mexican cartel cell for peace in an attempt to allow authorities to comb through property where the bodies of their loved ones may have been buried.

The Tamaulipas Union of Collectives of Searching Mothers appealed to the Gulf Cartel's Cyclones of Matamoros and asked for permission to enter an uninhabited property in a village known as La Bartolina, located seven miles from Brownsville, Texas.

It's an area where local authorities already have dug out 500 kilograms worth of human remains. The cartel controls access to the area. Its members have been seen on videos in the past allegedly burying the victims from its violence in mass 'graves' in the area.

'We want to make it clear that we are not looking for culprits, we are searching for our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and relatives,' the group said in a statement that was issued last Friday.

The collective went on to recognize the criminal organization's efforts to reach and provide basic goods to lower income neighborhoods throughout the COVID-19 pandemic after the government failed to act.

'That is why we appeal to your compassion and good heart as human beings that we are and allow us to go to the La Bartolina property in your city to demand that the aforementioned (local, state, and federal) government authorities carry out all the necessary procedures to soon begin exhuming the remains that are there,' the Tamaulipas Union of Collectives of Searching Mothers indicated.

The group is seeking a peace accord with the 'Ciclones de Matamoros' (Cyclones of Matamoros) due to the lack of 'due diligence and response from all the authorities responsible for searching, locating, and identifying our relatives.'

Authorities search through an empty property in La Bartolina, a village in the northeastern Mexico state of Tamaulipas for the bodies of missing persons. At least 500 kilos of human remains have been located throughout La Bartolina dating back to 2017

Pictured are some of the human remains that have recovered from the Tamaulipas village of La Bartolina. Tamaulipas Union of Collectives of Searching Mothers has petitioned to the Gulf Cartel's Ciclones of Matamoros faction for a truce and permission to search a property in the village where they believe missing individuals may be buried

The collective is searching for at least 200 individuals who have been reported missing over the last couple of years.

The Tamaulipas Union of Collectives of Searching Mothers called on the cartel's criminal cell to respecter their lives and allow them movement through the property free of any reprisal.

'The uncertainty of not finding our people has resulted in endless torture for us, not knowing the fate or whereabouts of our missing (relatives), which is unbearable,' the collective said while adding that each group member would be wearing a piece of white clothe tied around their arms and carrying white flags as a sign of their peace agreement.

Investigators (pictured) dig out human remains at an empty property in La Bartolina, Tamaulipas. The village is located at least seven miles from Brownsville, Texas, and has been used by criminal organizations to bury the bodies of their murdered victims

Government data shows that there were 89,488 people reported missing as of June 30, 2021. From December 2018 to June 2021, authorities found 49,581 people who were reported missing, but only 25,777 were found alive. At least 2,258 people were found dead. Pictured are some of human remains that have been cleared from mass graves in the Tamaulipas, Mexico, village of La Bartolina

Authorities searching for missing persons in La Bartolina village discovered in 2017 a mass grave site with cremated human remains. Since then, at least 500 kilos of burned body parts have been dug out. It's said that most of the people buried there were killed between 2009 and 2012.

Three of the warring factions of Gulf Cartel - Metros, Escorpiones (Scorpions) and Rojos (Reds) - signed a truce last Monday. However, it's unknown if the Ciclones were part of the peace treaty.

Multiple mass graves where authorities in Tamaulipas, Mexico, dug out the remains of missing persons

Members of a Gulf Cartel faction recorded themselves on video two years ago holding the lifeless bodies of individuals before dumping them in burning containers at a property in La Bartolina.

Government data shows that there were 89,488 people reported missing as of June 30, 2021.

From December 2018 to June 2021, authorities found 49,581 people who were reported missing, but only 25,777 were found alive. At least 2,258 people were found dead.