Mexican authorities announced on Thursday that 48 bags of human remains were found and removed from a clandestine grave near Guadalajara, AFP reported, News.bg reports.
Guadalajara is the capital of the state of Jalisco - a region where one of the most violent and influential drug cartels in Mexico operates and where thousands of people are reported missing.
The discovery in Zapopan
According to the information, the remains were found about four weeks ago by a search party on an empty plot of land in Zapopan - a remote municipality in the Guadalajara metropolitan area. This was confirmed by the state prosecutor's office.
The authorities said that the exact number of victims whose remains were found in the bags had not yet been determined. They refused to give even an estimate, but stressed that the search was continuing to determine if there were more human remains in the area.
“We need to make progress on the forensic issue so that we can provide you with concrete information“, Blanca Trujillo, deputy state prosecutor for missing persons, told a press conference.
The investigation and the help of volunteers
After the grisly discovery, authorities began recovering and identifying the remains with the help of members of the Guerreros Buscadores volunteer collective.
In an official report, Trujillo indicated that the National Commission for the Search of Persons is supporting the operation. The vast terrain required the use of heavy equipment.
Jalisco - epicenter of the missing persons crisis
The discovery joins dozens of other secret graves found in recent years in the state of Jalisco - the region hardest hit by Mexico's missing persons crisis. More than 127,000 people are officially listed as missing in the country.
The majority of these cases occurred after 2006, when the federal government launched a military operation against drugs, triggering a new wave of violence.
In June last year, forensic experts discovered the remains of 34 people buried near a residential area in Zapopan.
According to official figures, there are more than 15,900 registered cases of missing persons in Jalisco - a number that experts link to the activities of the drug cartel “New Generation Jalisco“.
The case is developing against the backdrop of intensified operations by the United States against drug trafficking in the region, which has led to tensions in relations between Washington and several Latin American countries.