Overview

• On August 22, 2010, Mexican Navy forces found 72 murdered migrants in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, after they refused to work for Los Zetas, and one Ecuadorian survivor alerted authorities.
• Human-rights organizations mark the 15th anniversary by declaring the case unresolved, pointing to at least nine victims who remain unidentified and to the absence of state reparations for families.
• Recent prosecutions include 11 Los Zetas members sentenced in August 2024 for killings tied to clandestine graves and three more sentenced in January 2025 in the massacre case, bringing final convictions to at least 14.
• Fundación para la Justicia argues the rulings have not addressed the deprivation and killing of the 72, noting charges focused on organized crime and weapons, no inquiry into possible official collusion, and a need for a specialized, interdisciplinary investigation.
• Advocates cite a pattern of extreme violence against migrants, including 195 remains found in 48 graves in 2011–2012 and later mass killings, and they recount years-long barriers to accessing case files that hindered families’ pursuit of truth.