The recent unearthing of human remains in Mexico City, a stone’s throw from where World Cup events are slated to unfold later this year, has cast a stark light on the region’s escalating violence. The gruesome finds, hastily buried, signal the growing presence of cartel-related activities, echoing a disturbing trend observed around Guadalajara where more than 20 such sites have been uncovered since last year, according to the New York Post.

In the past decade, a staggering 130,000 individuals have vanished across Mexico, many of whom have been tragically swept up in the web of cartel violence. Jaime Aguilar, a prominent figure from Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco—a group dedicated to locating the missing—expressed to El País last December that there’s a deliberate effort in Jalisco to make these individuals disappear without a trace.

“The intention is to obliterate any evidence of these disappearances,” Aguilar remarked, underscoring the grim reality faced by many families searching for their loved ones.

With the World Cup on the horizon, the spotlight has inadvertently shifted to these clandestine grave sites. Aguilar observed, “All the findings are gaining attention, because they’re being linked to the World Cup. It’s several miles away, but this is happening near a World Cup stadium.” This connection has heightened awareness and urgency around the discoveries, drawing international eyes to the ongoing crisis.

Since that grim discovery by construction workers, more bodies have been found in the area, including 48 bags of remains unearthed in a clandestine grave in Zapopan in October, CBS News reported.

An estimated 130,000 people have disappeared in Mexico over the past decade, many of whom have been linked to cartel violence. Jaime Aguilar of the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, an organization that searches for missing persons, told El País in December that the missing in Jalisco “are made to vanish.”

“This is so it won’t be known; they want to erase all traces of the disappeared,” added Aguilar.

Aguilar said the upcoming World Cup has drawn attention to the makeshift grave sites.

“All the findings are gaining attention, because they’re being linked to the World Cup. It’s several miles away, but this is happening near a World Cup stadium,” Aguilar said.