:quality(70):focal(2345x1727:2355x1737)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/liberation/MQMP2QAI5NHMREP2Y5N3SZH47I.jpg "about thirty bodies found in two clandestine graves – Liberation")
A macabre discovery in Mexico. Several corpses were found in two clandestine graves in western Mexico, a region plagued by violence linked to organized crime. “We have already counted 31 victims”, Jalisco State Prosecutor Luis Joaquin Mendez told the press on Thursday. These bodies were exhumed by the Mexican authorities who said they had elements to identify half of the bodies in order to hand them over to the families.
A first grave was located on February 1 in the locality of San Isidro Mazatepec, in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñigan. After several days of investigations and the extraction of several bags containing bodies, a second burial was identified there.
The state of Jalisco, controlled by the powerful New Generation Jalisco Cartel, is one of those most heavily affected by violence linked to organized crime. In 2022, 301 bodies were discovered there, distributed in 41 clandestine graves, compared to 544 remains in 2020, the highest number to date.
According to official data, Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 homicides, mostly attributed to criminal organizations, since the launch of a military anti-drug offensive in December 2006.
