Mexican authorities have found 69 bodies in several hidden tombs in the west of the country. It is being worked on the identification of the victims, said the prosecutor of the State of Colima on Tuesday (local time) on Twitter.
According to local media, the dead were found in some 50 graves in Tecomán municipality. According to the prosecutor, the search for further deaths continues. The previous graves were found gradually since the beginning of February.
The small state on the Pacific coast suffers for years under a growing violence. Last year Colima recorded the country’s highest homicide rate, with approximately 87.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Tecomán, located some 65 kilometers from the port of Manzanillo, is a strategic hub for drug trafficking. There, chemical raw materials from Asia for the production of synthetic drugs are brought to Mexico. In the fight for smuggling routes, there are often brutal clashes between warring drug cartels in the region.
The Latin American state has been through a violent year. According to official figures, around 33,300 people were killed in Mexico in 2018 – 15.5 percent more than in the previous year. In addition, around 40,000 people are missing.
