Tg1 interview revives Rancho Izaguirre dispute
Original reporting: Infobae México
What happened
Infobae México reports that a masked Tg1 interviewee claiming CJNG membership said he burned 250 bodies at Rancho Izaguirre. His allegations conflict with the FGR's position; the report also details dated investigation updates and proceedings against suspects.
Reporting and context
A masked man claiming to belong to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel said he burned the bodies of 250 people at Rancho Izaguirre in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, in an Italian television interview described by Infobae México. His account conflicts with the federal prosecutor's position that investigators found no evidence of cremations at the property.
According to Infobae México, the interview aired on the Italian public broadcaster's Tg1 news program on October 10. Speaking to journalist Stefania Battistini, the man alleged that more than 500 people had been killed at the ranch, including 20 in one night. Those figures are his account of events.
The man also claimed to help search collectives secretly by identifying places where remains might be found. He said fragments of bone and teeth could survive the burning, while many families would never recover complete remains. The article refers to Madres Buscadoras de Jalisco in describing his account and credits Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco for collaboration with the television report.
Battistini shared the material on October 11 and 13, with footage credited to Gabriel Casal of Ícaro Producciones. Infobae México reported that the broadcast renewed the dispute over what happened at the ranch.
The FGR has maintained that the site served as a CJNG recruitment and training center and that its examinations did not establish killings and cremations there. Former attorney general Alejandro Gertz Manero said investigators found no complete skeletons or bodies apart from a body recovered during a September 2024 National Guard operation.
The report describes later federal findings as well. In a March 6, 2026 statement, the FGR reported that processing of the property was 64.44% complete and that 47 people had been arrested. It said bone fragments yielded a male genetic profile without a match to relatives of missing people. On April 10, the agency reported progress exceeding 75%. These were dated investigation updates, separate from the interviewee's claimed victim totals.
Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco entered the property on March 5, 2025 after an anonymous tip, finding hundreds of garments, shoes and backpacks, along with burned bone remains, according to the article. The ranch covers more than 10,000 square meters in La Estanzuela. Search groups later criticized a March 20 visit organized by authorities, saying clothing had been removed and trenches altered.
Infobae México also described proceedings against former Teuchitlán mayor José Ascensión Murguía Santiago, arrested on May 3, 2025 and ordered to face proceedings for aggravated organized crime and enforced disappearance. The FGR alleges he used municipal police, vehicles and weapons to guard the property. The report says he remains in pretrial detention after a court rejected his amparo challenge in 2026.
Other arrests cited include José Gregorio Lastra Armida, “El Lastra,” accused of directing CJNG training and recruitment, and Alma Rosa Rivera Martínez, “La Leona,” arrested in February 2026 and identified as his alleged successor in recruiting through false job offers.
The article separately describes an October 3 announcement by Nayarit prosecutor Elvia Ludmila Heredia Verdugo about suspected body-burning facilities in La Curva, Xalisco. She compared that location with Rancho Izaguirre. The Nayarit case concerns a different property; the report gives no official victim count or identified remains there.
Original reporting: Infobae México.