Mexican call center workers found dismembered

On Tuesday, officials from Mexico and the United States confirmed that dismembered bodies found near Guadalajara could account for as many as eight call center workers who went missing last month. Authorities found the bodies last week but only recently confirmed that they belonged to the missing workers.

Who put the body bags there? A U.S. official said the workers likely wanted to escape a scam operation against Canadians and Americans for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Brian E. Nelson, undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in an April statement that the cartel had “deep involvement in timeshare fraud” operations. Analysts consider the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to be one of Mexico’s most violent gangs.

Dig deeper: Read Kim Henderson’s report from the WORLD archives about a church in Juarez, Mexico, putting on a Vacation Bible School for local children.