Testimony from activist Margarita López—founder of the collective *Buscando Cuerpos en Todo México* (Searching for Bodies Across Mexico)—revealed the recovery of approximately 1,600 baby teeth from among charred skeletal remains in a clandestine grave in the municipality of Zacapu, Michoacán. This discovery was made during independent search operations that began in 2021, with interventions scheduled to continue through September 2026.
Operations at the site, located in northern Michoacán, began after López spotted a column of smoke rising from a hill in Zacapu.
Upon entering the property—identified by the activist as a ranch belonging to a drug trafficker from Sinaloa—members of the collective located a clandestine crematorium beneath avocado trees, where high temperatures persisted due to the recent incineration of remains.
Work in the area involves constant risk due to the presence of armed groups that seized land from local residents to cultivate avocados.
Currently, the drug traffickers controlling these orchards block free movement, reacting violently and coercively by issuing death threats against activists and local residents.
This armed restriction extends to the Malpaís Prieto archaeological zone—a historic site that was once freely accessible but has been off-limits since criminal organizations seized the territory.
Despite the hostile environment, the “searching mothers” returned to the area with the support of Braulio, a forensic expert from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), and employed specialized sifting equipment. During the search, they found bone fragments—including vertebrae, phalanges, kneecaps, and tarsal bones—as well as the first canine tooth of a minor.
This discovery prompted the collective to switch to sieves with a quarter-centimeter mesh size to recover smaller pieces of evidence. According to the organization’s records, approximately 1,600 children’s teeth were recovered between the initial surveys in 2021 and the work carried out on September 22, 2026—evidence indicating that children between the ages of one and six were incinerated at the clandestine crematorium.
Margarita López posits that the presence of children’s remains at the incineration site stems from criminal activities linked to sexual exploitation, organ trafficking, or child pornography in the region. The evidence recovered by the collective has been turned over to the FGR for the necessary forensic examinations and DNA analysis.
