Archive · 2 Aug 2025
Mexico Uses Pigs to Unearth Cartel Victims
In Mexico, the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel is believed to have killed many people.
Since it's hard to find the bodies, scientists are using a unique method to help find them.
They're putting human clothes on dead pigs and burying them.
Because pigs and humans are similar, scientists can study how bodies decompose.
When a pig decomposes, it releases phosphorus into the soil.
If yellow flowers grow, it means phosphorus is present, and that could indicate where human remains are buried.
This helps investigators find missing people.
The Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel is believed responsible for thousands of deaths in Mexico.
Over 100,000 people have vanished since 2006 and are presumed dead at the hands of the cartel.
The Jalisco Search Commission is using pigs in human clothes to locate hidden bodies.
This method studies decomposition processes using the similarities between pig and human DNA.
Yellow flowers have appeared where buried pigs were, indicating phosphorus from decomposition.
- Who
- The Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel is believed responsible, and the Jalisco Search Commission is conducting the search.
- What
- An innovative method is being used to locate bodies of people believed to have been killed by a cartel.
- When
- Since 2006, over 100,000 people have mysteriously vanished.
- Where
- Mexico
- Why
- To find the hidden remains of victims and understand decomposition processes.
- Cartel Involved
- Jalisco Nueva Generación
- Missing Since
- 2006
- Missing Reported This Year
- About 15,500 (March)
- Method
- Pigs in human clothes
- Objective
- Locate bodies and study decomposition
- Indicator
- Yellow flowers indicate phosphorus