More than 30 bodies exhumed from secret graves in drug cartel turf war

Mexican authorities say they have pulled a total of 31 bodies from pits in a southeastern state plagued by cartel violence since they began digging makeshift graves over the weekend.

Chiapas state governor Eduardo Ramirez announced an operation over the weekend to restore stability in the Frailesca agricultural region near Guatemala, where rival drug cartels are engaged in a turf war.

“Today (Monday) we found a total of 25 secret graves, 31 bodies, 29 of them male and two female,” Chiapas state prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven said in a statement.

The Chiapas state government initially said it did He found 15 bodies on Saturday. Two more were found on Sunday and another 14 on Monday. Governor Ramirez released footage of the scene over the weekend social media.

The prosecutor said that his office and the state security secretariat will continue the investigation until they find “the bodies of each of the persons reported missing.”

Collectives are looking for the missing drug cartels and other organized crime groups sometimes use ovens to burn their victims and leave no trace, they say.

Mexico’s cartel-related violence is concentrated along drug trafficking routes, borders and ports of entry.

The state of Chiapas, on Mexico’s southern border, has been described by think tank InSight Crime as a “major smuggling hub for both drugs and migrants”.

Marcelo Pérez, a well-known Catholic priest, in October He was shot and killed in Chiapas. Peres received frequent threats, and human rights advocates said he did not receive the government protection he needed.

It coincided with violence Jalisco New Generation Cartel an attack on what were once strongholds The Sinaloa CartelIt is said to be one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.

Since Mexico began its controversial anti-drug operation in 2006, more than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing, according to official figures.

Mexican authorities last week discovered 12 bodies buried in secret graves In the north of the state of Chihuahua. Authorities have discovered 11 graves containing 12 skeletons in the municipality of Ascension, near the US border, the state attorney’s office said in a statement.