Cartel Hitman Claims 500 Executed at Mexican Ranch
A self-proclaimed hitman for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel alleges over 500 people were killed at a remote ranch, with him personally incinerating 250 bodies.
A hired assassin for a powerful Mexican cartel claims to have incinerated more than 250 bodies at a remote ranch where over 500 people were executed, according to an interview with Italian public television broadcaster RAI. The hitman, whose identity was concealed, stated that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, used Rancho Izaguirre in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, as an extermination site.
The assassin, who reportedly earns approximately $220 weekly for his work, said that victims were made to disappear at and around the ranch. He told RAI that lives had little value, stating, "I might kill five people in a single day, but my pay remains the same. A life doesn’t cost much."
The site was initially brought to the attention of the Jalisco Search Warriors, a collective of volunteers searching for missing loved ones, in February 2025. Anonymous tips from kidnapping victims who had been lured with job offers but escaped, along with information from the hitman, led volunteers to the location. A visit on March 5, 2025, uncovered hundreds of clothing items and bone fragments. The material was turned over to the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office but has not yet been linked to any missing persons.
The National Guard had previously raided the ranch in September 2024, arresting 10 cartel members and rescuing two kidnapping victims. At that time, a dead body was found, but the Jalisco prosecutor’s office reportedly downplayed the discovery, calling it a cartel training site.
In July 2025, Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) convicted the 10 arrested cartel members, sentencing each to 141 years in prison.
However, the FGR has disputed the hitman's claims aired by Italian television. The office stated this week that the assassin's assertion of mass incineration at Rancho Izaguirre is false and that forensics had examined 92% of the site. Indira Navarro, leader of the Jalisco Search Warriors, contested the FGR's assessment, asserting that the hitman's tips led volunteers to areas where remains appeared to have been burned. Navarro also stated the hitman contacted the group again in June 2026. He had previously provided information leading volunteers to another location in April 2025 in the neighboring municipality of Ahualulco de Mercado, where Navarro said many bodies had been burned and over 1,000 body fragments were discovered.