France24 news
written by AFP staff
Thursday July 28, 2011
At least 18 bodies have been recovered from a hidden grave near Mexico's northern industrial city of Monterrey, a Nuevo Leon state attorney general's office official said.
The bodies were found in the town of Juarez, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside of Monterrey, a spokesman in the attorney general's office said earlier, declining to be named or provide details.
"The final count of human remains found in a clandestine grave in Juarez is 18 people. The excavation has been halted because no more traces of remains were found," another official said.
Officials said the bodies were in "varying degrees of decomposition," suggesting they had been buried for at least a month.
An upsurge in violence has stripped Monterrey, home to many multinational companies, of its reputation as a safe haven in Mexico.
Authorities blame a spillover of drug violence from neighboring Tamaulipas state, where a turf war between the Gulf cartel and its former hitmen the Zetas has created a climate of fear.
More than 70 violent deaths have been recorded this month in the Monterrey metropolitan area, including an attack on a bar which left 21 dead.
Elsewhere, nine men were killed in suspected drug violence in the western state of Michoacan, including six killed in a shootout, state officials said Wednesday.
More than 41,000 people have died in violence linked to Mexico's organized crime gangs since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown in December 2006, according to media reports.
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