More bodies found in Mexico mass graves

Forensic investigators put into a vehicle a body that was recovered from a mass grave in La Barca, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. An official says investigators have dug up as many as 18 bodies in western Mexico after questioning nearly two dozen police who say they were feeding information and victims to a drug gang. The federal prosecutor’s official said Friday some of the bodies showed signs of torture and were buried in eight graves in La Barca, a town near a lake popular with tourists. AP

GUADALAJARA—Authorities have found three more bodies in mass graves in western Mexico, bringing to 42 the number of bodies unearthed over the past 10 days, officials said Tuesday.

The three bodies found at the border between the states of Jalisco and Michoacan were in the same area as 18 other corpses that were discovered in the past week.

Luis Carlos Najera, the attorney general of Jalisco state, said the bodies were exhumed on the banks of the Lerma River.

The region is a hotbed of conflict between the Michoacan-based Knights Templar drug cartel and the rival Jalisco New Generation gang.

The grim discovery is linked to an investigation into the disappearance of two federal police officers.

Authorities have detained 22 municipal officers from Michoacan in connection with the case. Prosecutors say some of the suspects said they detained and handed the federal agents to the Jalisco cartel.

Najera said there was no evidence that the missing agents were among the 21 bodies but that the search would continue.

Authorities have found mass graves in other states in the past days.

Officials said Monday that the bodies of six men, a woman and a minor were exhumed near a dirt road in the northern state of Sonora, near the US-Mexico border, after getting an anonymous call.

Medical experts say the remains could be about a year and a half old.

On Saturday, seven bodies were discovered near the resort of Acapulco, less than two days after six cadavers were found.

Drug cartels use mass graves to dispose of their victims and dozens of such graves, containing hundreds of corpses, have been discovered across Mexico in recent years.

More than 77,000 people have been killed in violence related to drug cartels since 2006.