Mexican authorities on Thursday discovered the remains of at least 166 bodies at a mass grave site in Veracruz state, Reuters reported. State Attorney General Jorge Winckler said they found the bodies in 32 graves after they followed a tip from an unidentified source.
Violent crime and drug trafficking are rampant in the state and the discovery is only the latest in a series of morbid developments.
A preliminary investigation indicates that the corpses were buried for around two years, Winckle said. “We have found more than 200 items of clothing, 114 pieces of identification, as well as different accessories and personal items,” the state attorney general’s office said in a statement.
The official called on families whose relatives have disappeared to contact authorities and undergo DNA tests to help identify the remains.
In March 2017, the state attorney general announced that more than 250 skulls were found in unmarked graves in Veracruz. Over 30,000 murders were reported across Mexico in 2017, the highest since 1997.
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