Guerrero leads Mexico in clandestine grave findings, report shows

A report by the Universidad Iberoamericana Human Rights Program, titled ‘Trazar la ausencia, caminar la esperanza’, reveals that Guerrero has recorded the highest number of clandestine grave findings in Mexico between 2006 and 2024. The study identified 416 sites in the state, documenting at least 3,516 graves and 8,341 exhumed bodies across three presidential administrations.

Other states with high concentrations of findings include Veracruz, Sonora, Guanajuato, and Jalisco. At the municipal level, Acapulco, Guerrero, ranks first nationally with 189 graves, followed by Tecomán, Colima (184), Hermosillo, Sonora (110), Veracruz, Veracruz (101), and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (96).

In Chihuahua, recent investigations by the State Investigation Agency in the North Zone District have discovered 15 clandestine graves containing 19 bodies or remains during 2026. Researchers emphasize that addressing this crisis requires not only political will and institutional strengthening but also comprehensive crime prevention strategies to combat person disappearances.