A report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that state actors in Mexico are involved in disappearances at an “alarming” rate, often working in collusion with organized crime groups.

More than 130,000 people have gone missing in Mexico, mostly during the last two decades of violence linked to the country’s war on drug cartels.

The report says disappearances are carried out both directly by government officials and indirectly through cooperation or tolerance of criminal organizations, despite repeated denials from President Claudia Sheinbaum and her administration.

Families searching for missing loved ones have largely been forced to lead investigations themselves, facing threats, violence, and institutional failures, while at least 27 searchers have been killed since 2010, The Guardian has reported.

The report also highlighted severe impunity, noting that only nine convictions for disappearance-related crimes have been secured since 2014 despite tens of thousands of unresolved cases and unidentified bodies in state custody.