More than 40 bodies, many of them bound and gagged, have been found in clandestine graves in western Mexico as investigators continue to uncover evidence of drug-related slayings.
The graves are in La Barca near the border between Jalisco and Michoacan states, in a remote area popular among tourists and American retirees. The region has become the site of a turf war between the Knights Templar and the New Generation cartels. Agents were led to the 22 mass graves by local police officers who confessed to working with a drug cartel.
The investigation started off as part of a search for two missing federal detectives. Investigators detained 22 local police officers from the nearby town of Vista Hermosa, Michoacan, some of whom confessed they had handed over the officers and other people to New Generation gunmen. The missing detectives have not been located nor have their bodies appeared so far in the graves, though excavations continue. Some of the bodies appear to have been buried for a year or more.
Meanwhile, in Fresnillo in the north-central state of Zacatecas, officials reported that they had found the bodies of two women hung from a pedestrian bridge. The pair were found at dawn and the cause of death is still being investigated. Photos published by local media showed that a hand-written banner like the ones often used by drug cartels to leave threatening messages was hung close to the bodies.
