The bodies of 15 people were recovered from pits in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas Violence by drug cartels.
In a post on
“Unfortunately, 15 bodies have been found so far in secret graves on two properties,” Ramirez wrote on social media Saturday.
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He added that weapons, vehicles and drugs were also seized and four people were arrested. However, he did not say whether they were allegedly involved in the deaths of the 15 people.
of Mexico Cartel-related violence focused on or along drug trafficking routes, borders and ports of entry.
The state of Chiapas has been described by the think tank InSight Crime as a “major hub for drug and migrant smuggling.”
It has been for two years Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels have been involved in bloody turf wars in Chiapas, killing entire families and forcing villages to take sides in the dispute. Hundreds of Chiapas residents had to flee to neighboring Guatemala for safety reasons.
Since Mexico launched its controversial anti-drug operation in 2006, more than 450,000 murders have been committed and tens of thousands of people have gone missing, according to official figures.
In October, a well-known Catholic priest Marcelo Pérezan activist for indigenous peoples and agricultural workers, was shot dead in Chiapas.
Pérez, 50, had often received threats but continued to work as a peace activist. Human rights activists said Pérez did not receive the government protection he needed.
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President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on October 1, has vowed to follow the policies of her predecessor and mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and not confront the drug cartels. Politicians have not succeeded in significantly reducing violence.
The Mexican authorities reported on Thursday discovered 12 bodies buried in secret graves in the northern state of Chihuahua.
Authorities discovered 11 graves containing 12 skeletons in Ascension Parish near the U.S. border, prosecutors said in a statement.