At least 14 people who refused to work for the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) were murdered by gunmen from the organization, according to Mexican authorities.
La Jornada reported that authorities discovered 68 bags of human remains in mass graves last week in wooded areas of the municipalities of Ocoyoacac and Lerma.
Mexico State Attorney General José Luis Cervantes said that forensic analysis has determined the remains belong to 13 men and one woman.
Authorities found the remains after they arrested nine alleged members of a cell of the CJNG that operated in the Toluca Valley. Cervantes said that genetic testing is being conducted to identify the deceased and they may have been street-level drug distributors who refused to work for the cartel.
"The hypothesis that we have is that in fact they were street-level dealers and they had small drug stores," Cervantes said in a televised news conference. "The way these organizations operate is that they move against those who don't join their operation. They invite them and if they don't receive a satisfactory answer, they eliminate them. That is what they do."
Breitbart Texas reported that authorities have unearthed 10 mass graves in Mexico State in recent weeks. The grisly discoveries are reportedly all linked to CJNG expanding its operations and trying to control new markets.
Republican attorneys general in 21 states called on the Biden administration last week to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
"Because of the severe threat to our nation and our States posed by these cartels, I hereby request that the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG, and other similarly situated Mexican drug cartels be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations [FTOs] pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1189," the attorneys general wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"Designating the cartels as FTOs will give state and federal law enforcement agencies increased powers to freeze cartel assets, deny entry to cartel members, and allow prosecutors to pursue tougher punishments against those who provide material support to the cartels."
The officials listed the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG as the main offenders, citing information from the Drug Enforcement Administration that the groups "import dangerous raw materials from China, use them to produce deadly synthetic opioids at low cost, and unlawfully transport those opioids into the United States."
The letter signatories said the cartels also have connections to foreign terrorist organizations like the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
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