The video features José "El Jocha" Lavariega, the gang leader who allegedly invited the victims to Oaxaca under false pretenses.
In the clip, Lavariega is seen knocking on a hotel room door at Hospedaje Jacha, a hotel he owned in Huatulco, Oaxaca, reports the Daily Mail.
“They took George, dude,” Lavariega says while others in the background laugh. After a moment, a young man opens the door, appearing annoyed by the prank. “Stop playing, whitey,” he responds as the group continues to laugh.
The release of the footage comes as authorities continue investigating the murders of five men and four women, all members of the gang "Los Brujos." The victims were identified as Rubén Ramos, Rolando Evaristo, Uriel Calva, Raúl González, Noemí López, Jacqueline Meza, Lesly Noya, and Angie Pérez.
An official from the prosecutor's office told Daily Mail that Lavariega invited the victims to Oaxaca, where they allegedly asked if they could commit robberies. According to the source, Lavariega assured them, "there's no problem," allowing them to carry out crimes in the area.
However, their actions reportedly angered a local criminal group that controls drug trafficking near the Oaxaca coast. The rival gang responded violently, leading to the dismemberment of the nine victims.
Lavariega himself was later shot dead in his car, with a note left at the scene branding him a “thief.”
One survivor, 19-year-old Brenda Salas, told authorities that a Huatulco Municipal police officer forced her and Angie Pérez into a marked vehicle before they were kidnapped and beaten. Salas was later found abandoned on a road in Puebla, a day after the remains of Pérez and the other victims were discovered under a tarp and in a car trunk on a highway in San José Miahuatlán.
Mexican authorities continue to investigate the massacre, but so far, no further details have been released about how Salas was rescued.
