The governor of the Mexican state of Chihuaha, Maru Campos, announced this Wednesday that the bodies of the Jesuit priests, Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar, who died last Monday after an armed attack inside the church of Cerocahui, in the northeast of the country.
"Today, thanks to an extraordinary effort by the State Attorney General’s Office, we have managed to locate and recover –and this by forensic medicine–, the bodies of the Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora and the guide of tourists Pedro Palma"Campos has indicated in a statement shared on Twitter.
The two religious, belonging to the Society of Jesus, were shot at the hands of alleged members of organized crime who broke into the temple, specifically, José Noel Portillo, alias ‘El Chueco’, who heads a cell of the criminal group Gente Nueva , armed and operational arm of the Sinaloa cartel in that region, as reported by the newspaper ‘La Jornada’.
In addition, the State Attorney General’s Office reported the disappearance of a third person, a tour guide and in the same area of the event, who was last seen at the Mission Hotel in the city of Cerocahui, according to the newspaper ‘El Universal’. ‘.
The death of the Jesuits and the tour guide was described by the Mexican media as "circumstantial". For its part, the Society of Jesus condemned in a statement "these violent events" and demanded "Immediately" protective measures for the religious of the Cerocahui community, denying that they were "isolated events".
"The Sierra Tarahumara, like many other regions of the country, faces conditions of violence and neglect that have not been reversed. Every day men and women are arbitrarily deprived of life, as our brothers were murdered today"they explained, adding that "they will not be silent in the face of a reality that lacerates the entire society".
The Attorney General of the State of Chihuahua (FGE) has offered a reward of up to 5 million pesos (236,000 euros) to whoever provides information that leads directly to the capture of José Noriel Portillo Gil alias ‘El Chueco’, according to the aforementioned medium.
Officially, it has been confirmed that this subject is charged with the crimes of homicide, organized crime, and is also likely responsible for the events that occurred on June 20, in the community of Cerocahui, municipality of Urique.