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‘Another Version of Rancho Izaguirre’: Bodies Burned in a Drum of Diesel, Gasoline and Soap, Bones Dumped in a Creek at Xalisco Site Near Tepic, Nayarit’s Top Prosecutor Says

By The Narco Blog · October 7, 2026 · Updated October 7, 2026

A dirt track leads to a fenced rural property in La Curva, Xalisco, Nayarit, with a white 'Inmueble asegurado' (property seized) banner at the gate amid banana plants and brush
The property in La Curva, Xalisco, Nayarit, that the state prosecutor's office says it is processing as an “extermination center by incineration,” with a seizure notice at the gate. Photo: Colectivo Familias Unidas por Nayarit, via Proceso.

Bodies were burned in a barrel filled with diesel, gasoline and soap, and the charred bones were dumped in a creek, Nayarit’s top prosecutor said of a rural property in La Curva, in the municipality of Xalisco on the outskirts of Tepic. She called it “another version of Rancho Izaguirre,” the Jalisco ranch that became a national symbol of Mexico’s disappearance crisis. Investigators have been processing the site since Oct. 3, 2026, and also found a clandestine grave with recently buried bodies, Infobae, AP (via Proceso) and EFE reported on Oct. 6.

What the prosecutor described

State Attorney General Elvia Ludmila Heredia Verdugo said an anonymous tip led search groups and her office to the property, El Universal reported. “We are processing an extermination center by incineration,” she said, as quoted by EFE. She described a makeshift “hornilla,” or burner, where a drum was filled with fuel and soap “so it sticks to the skin and the fabric.” According to El Universal, she said bone fragments were scattered in the stream and that “three fragments represent one body.” Prosecutors told AP on Oct. 6 they had not yet determined how many bodies or remains are at the site. Genetic testing is planned to identify the dead.

Nayarit Attorney General Elvia Ludmila Heredia Verdugo, wearing glasses and a navy blouse, reads a statement at a podium bearing the Nayarit state seal
Nayarit Attorney General Elvia Ludmila Heredia Verdugo at the news conference where she described the Xalisco site. Photo: Gobierno de Nayarit, via Infobae.

Who ran it?

El Universal reported the property was used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as an “extermination center.” AP said only that the CJNG operates in Nayarit. No one has been charged over the site in the sources reviewed. At the same news conference, Infobae reported, Heredia presented suspects arrested in a separate investigation into narco-banners after a raid in Ópalo, also in Xalisco. They include an alleged recruiter who prosecutors say moved young recruits from Tepic to the state’s north to guard the corridor toward Sinaloa, Durango and Zacatecas.

Families searching

Mothers from the Colectivo Familias Unidas por Nayarit joined the dig over the weekend. The group said bone fragments, objects and clothing were recovered but cannot yet be identified, AP reported. Member Alma Ríos told AP she hopes to find her husband, Alberto López, taken in front of her in September 2019. Nayarit has 2,148 people reported missing, according to AP.

Related coverage: Phones Seized From Alleged CJNG Member Held Nayarit Governor’s Flight Plans: Jet He Often Used Crashes in Ixtlán del Río, Killing 2 Pilots — Prosecutor Won’t Rule Out an Attack

Sources

Reported Oct. 7, 2026, from the sources above. Authorities have not released a victim count or identified any remains, and no one has been charged in connection with the site in the reports reviewed.