Mexico under the spotlight: more than 500 bags with human remains turn up near World Cup stadium
In the last year more than 20 clandestine graves have been discovered in the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
Image of the stadium where the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played (Archive).
The discovery of multiple clandestine graves in the state of Jalisco, just a few kilometers from the Akron Stadium - one of the Mexican venues for the 2026 World Cup - has reignited concerns about violence linked to organized crime in Mexico, on the eve of the international tournament.
According to reports released by the New York Post, more than 20 clandestine graves have been discovered in the Guadalajara metropolitan area in the last year. In four of the 22 recently located, authorities and groups have found more than 500 bags with human remains.
One of the most relevant cases was recorded in the property known as Las Agujas, in the municipality of Zapopan, adjacent to Guadalajara. Between February and September 2025, 270 bags with human remains were found on a property of approximately 54 acres, according to information published by El País. The initial discovery was made by construction workers.
Later in October, another 48 bags of remains were located in a clandestine grave in Zapopan, according to a report by CBS News. Authorities have continued search efforts in the area.
Disappearances and violence
Mexico has accumulated around 130,000 missing persons in the last decade, many of them in contexts related to cartel violence, according to official figures and civil organizations.
Jaime Aguilar, a member of the Guerreros Buscadores collective in Jalisco - dedicated to locating missing persons - told the media in December that in that entity "the disappeared are made to disappear," in reference to the alleged intention to erase all traces of the victims.
"This is so that it is not known, they want to erase all traces of the disappeared," Aguilar pointed out. He added that the proximity of some finds to a World Cup venue has increased public attention: "All the finds are drawing attention, because they are being linked to the World Cup. It's several kilometers away, but this is happening near a World Cup stadium."
Debate ahead of the World Cup
Although Mexican authorities have reiterated that the World Cup will be a safe event and that special security operations will be implemented to guarantee the integrity of players, visitors and local population, in the current context there are doubts.
While investigations and forensic work continue in Jalisco, the contrast between the preparation of a global-scale sporting event and the persistent disappearance crisis once again places the security situation in the country at the center of the debate.
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