The human remains had been buried in hidden graves in a remote, mountainous area of Guerrero state, a hotbed of drug-related violence.
The victims and suspects have not yet been identified, state officials said in a statement Thursday. Authorities are still combing the area to see if there are more hidden graves at the site, the statement said.
The investigation began earlier this week
after authorities, acting on a tip, found a man who'd been kidnapped
and held captive at a drug gang's camp. During their first sweep,
investigators found seven bodies buried in several hidden graves there.
They also found a cooler with human remains inside, several abandoned
vehicles and AK-47 and AR-15 ammunition clips.
By Thursday, the tally had grown to 32 bodies found in at least 17 graves.
The
discovery comes amid a surge in violence in the state, where vigilante
groups have also grown as some citizens take security into their own
hands.
"Here, there is a
phenomenon," Guerrero Coordinating Group spokesman Robert Alvarez
Heredia told MVS Radio this week. "The large cartels have become small
criminal gangs, and they share one characteristic: the extreme and
irrational use of violence."
In a statement Thursday, officials said they were stepping up security "to protect citizens who have nothing to do with the confrontations between criminal groups."
credit: CNN
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