Cocula: Another Clandestine Grave Found

A member of the ministerial police force in Cocula, Guerrero

By: Ezequiel Flores Contreras | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Cocula, Guerrero— Agents of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) found a clandestine grave located in the landfill of the municipal seat of Cocula, located in northern Guerrero.

Jesús Murillo Karam and the head of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), Tomás Zerón, arrived at the location via helicopter to verify the finding which may be where the bodies of the missing Ayotzinapa normalista students may be.

The site is cordoned off by PGR agents and Navy personnel.

PGR specialists are currently working the area, which is difficult to access, and it was observed that people are going down into the area aided by ropes.

Authorities maintain secrecy and the municipal seat of Cocula is reinforced by elements of the PGR and the Navy.

Since this afternoon, federal agents, military personnel, and navy forces were deployed in the vicinity of the landfill.

Navy helicopters and trucks carry out patrols on rural roads near the landfill.  Members of the Gendarmerie are also involved with ATV’s and horses.

 In addition, there were reports of federal and military mobilization in central Cocula.

I found this video below showing PGR agents attacking journalists who were on their way to the landfill where the clandestine grave was found.

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Guerrero: Clandestine Grave Death Toll Rises To 14

Borderland Beat

Photo by: Ezequiel Flores

Ministerial authorities found three more bodies at the same site of the town of Zumpango del Río, municipality of Eduardo Neri, where last Saturday, 11 bodies were exhumed from four clandestine graves.

So far, 14 victims have been located at the site called Borde Ramírez, from the land of Zoyacomalipa, located just five minutes from the county seat, on a bumpy dirt road that connects this town of the Centro region with the indigenous community of Atliaca.

The discovery of the clandestine grave at Zumpango was recorded on Saturday, after an open investigation from the PGJ (Office of the Attorney General) on the case of a missing child who was deprived of his freedom last year, ministry officials said.

On Monday, forensic experts from the PGJ resumed the search at this location and at around 11:00 hours, three more bodies were found.

The area is cordoned off by soldiers and at the area, brigades from the Civil Protection, forensic experts, and ministerial agents from the PGJ are also working at the area; they have also examined at least three points to focus the excavations at.

Last Saturday, 11 corpses were exhumed from four mass graves, three of the victims were women and eight were men, official reports say.

According to preliminary forensic tests, the bodies were buried about a year ago.

Source: Proceso

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Police find 5 dead in Sinaloa state

Five unidentified individuals were found dead in a mass grave in Sinaloa state Tuesday, according to Mexican news accounts.

A new report which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Chihuahua said the dead were found in a grave in Ahome municipality in northern Sinaloa state.  The location of the grave, colloquially known as a narcofosa, was near the village of San José de Ahome.

According to an extract from an EFE news account which appeared in La Cronica news daily, the victims found in the narcofosa have been dead for six months.  Two complete skeletons were found Monday with three others' remains found Tuesday.  As of this publication excavations  continue.

Usually mass graves are burial grounds of victims in kidnapping operations, who are often killed even though transom has been paid.  The news report said that a number of missing persons report have been filed in the region in the past, but have not said if the bodies were among those victims.

A news report also said that the area where the narcofosa was found is the territory of Isidro Meza Flores, AKA El Chapo Isidro the leader of the Meza Flores drug cartel.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War nad national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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Mexican authorities find 3 dead in Nuevo Leon

Three unidentified bodies were found in a northern Nuevo Leon municipality Wednesday, and one individual was detained for investigation into the deaths, according to Mexican news reports.

A dispatch published in the online edition of Milenio news daily said that the three dead were found in a grave in Salinas Victoria municipality on the road that links  Monterrey with Colombia.

Nuevo Leon Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) or attorney general Adrian de la Garza Santos was quoted saying that the most recent victim was killed about a month ago, but failed to say how far back the murders went.

Mexican press have characterized the find as executed, so it is probable the three were shot to death and dumped at the location they were found.  Press reports also hint that the location was a dumping ground for kidnap victims.

One man, identified as Carlos Perez Gonzalez, 28, was detained in connection with the find.  He is said to be linked to Los Zetas drug cartel.

Reports also say that Nuevo Leon state security forces are still searching for more bodies in the area.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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25 dead found near Guadalajara

A total of 25 individuals were found in a series of graves in Jalisco state, near Guadalajara in central Mexico, according to Mexican news reports.

An APRO wire dispatch which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, said that the dead were found between Tlaquepaque and Tonala municipalities near a break in terrain known as Cerro del Gasto.  The exhumation of the dead have been ongoing since March 1st. 

Six have been discovered thanks to an anonymous telephone call to authorities.

According to the report, a total of 109 unidentified individuals have been exhumed from graves.  colloquially known as narcofosas in Jalisco state since last November.  A total of 67 individuals have been found in November and December, 2013 in  La Barca, Jalisco and Vista Hermosa, Michoacan.  Another 19 dead were exhumed in Tlajomulco de Zuñiga municipality last February.

Michoacan state is the coastal Mexico state in which indigenous Indians have been frustrating narcotraffickers with their grupos autodefensas or self  defense groups since last summer.  It is unknown as of this report if the dead have much to do with Michoacan autodefensas.  Normally in Mexico when this many people are buried in one spot,  they are usually kidnapping victims, or individuals who have fell afoul of local narco gangs.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War  and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com  he can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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8 die in Tamaulipas

Eight individuals were were killed or were found dead in separate incidents in drug or gang violence in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas since Monday, according to official Mexican news reports.

According to a news release posted onm the website of Tamaulipas state government, one man was killed by a Mexican Army patrol last Thursday in Ciudad Vitoria, the state capital of Tamauliapas.

The incident took place near the intersection of Avenida Jose Sulaiman Chagnon and  Calle Carlos Adrian Aviles in La Paz colony.

Armed suspects were observed by a Mexican Army patrol which attempted a traffic stop.  According to the report, the armed suspects opened fire on the soldiers.  Army return fire hit and killed one suspect.

Two other suspects were detained at the scene and were identified as Daniel Rafael Martinez Gonzalez, 24, and Juan Ramon Alvarez Jaramillo, 30.  Soldiers also seized one rifle, one weapons magazine and 27 rounds of ammunition.

Three days before, a Tamaulipas state police agent was killed in Ciudad Victoria as he was dining at a seafood restaurant.  The agent was identified in the official new release as  Omar Oswaldo Nava Gil.  The news release failed to detail how Nava Gil died.

On Monday in Nuevo Laredo, two inmates were killed in a prison brawl, according to a separate news release.  The victims were identified as Jorge Gonzalez Gomez, 21, and Luis Eduardo Corral Oropeza, 28.  Both men had been admitted to the Nuevo Laredo Centro de Ejecucion de Sanciones (CEDES) only the day before.

Three inmates, identified as Humberto Lopez Perez, 32, Valentin Casas Franco, 26, and Vidal Gutierrez Chavez, 28, were said to have committed the murder, which was the result of a "personal grudge".

A second prison brawl took place on Thursday, this time at the Centro de Ejecución de Sanciones (CEDES) in Ciudad Victoria.

According to the data supplied,  Carlos Palacios Ramirez, 39 and  Edgar Villafuerte Cabriales, 28,were attacked by two other inmates using a makeshift knife.  Both victims were serving time for murder.

Two other inmates, identified as Arturo Valdez Loera, 29, and Rodolfo Solis Rodriguez, 28, were said to have confessed to the crime.

Finally, the Tamaulipas Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) or attorney general reported finding at least two dead in separate graves. 

In Gomez Farias, charred remains, presumably of an unidentified woman were found in a field, along with articles of women's clothing on January 31st.

Meanwhile in El Mante municipality, charred remains were found in a creek bed in ejido El Abra, also with articles of women's clothing, February 12th.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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26 found dead in Guerrero state

A total of 21 unidentified individuals were found dead in a number of hidden graves in the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report which appeared in the online edition of Animal Politico said that 21 bodies were recovered in Taxco de Alarcon municipality since Saturday night.  A Mexican army unit received an anonymous tip about the mass grave, which was said to be near  location called Puente Campuzano.

According to the report, the Associated Press originally reported Monday that 12 bodies were found Monday, nine men and three women, but later reports now say that the total is 21.

The Mexican news daily Reforma quoted Guerrero Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE)  or attorney general spokesman, Iñaki Blanco, saying that some of the bobies were bone fragments, and that at least one municipal police agent's uniform was found.  The mass grave includes at east two pits, or fosas.

A news account published last week said that a separate grave was found near Cajelitos 10 days ago, presumably in the municipality of Chilpancingo -- the state capital of Guerrero -- containing three men and two women.  That grave has yet to be confirmed by official sources.


Taxco de Alarcon was the location in June of 2010 where 77 dead were found in  a mining pit.  At the time, then Guerrero governor Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo said the find was an example of the scope of the drug trafficking problem and an example of the cruelty of narcotraffickers.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com  He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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Mexican security forces find 8 dead in Sonora state

A total of eight individuals were found dead in far southern Sonora state Tuesday, according to Mexican news reports.

A wire service news account appearing in the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila said that a Mexican joint security force located two mass graves near the village of Navomora in Navajoa municipality.

Among the dead were six men, one adult female and one young female. The news account said the victims were likely killed 18 months ago.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com

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8 die in Chihuahua state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of six unidentified individuals were found Friday in a series of graves in Rosales municipality in Chihuahua, according to Mexican news reports.

A Notimex wire dispatch posted on the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila said that the victims were found in four pits inside ejido Rosales, according to a spokesman for the Chihuahua state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or attorney general, Carlos Hernandez.

The bodies were found on Thursday and excavation continued into the next day.  The totals were five men and one woman found.

Two other men were killed and several others were wounded in four separate incidents in Chihuahua state.

• Five unidentified individuals were shot and wounded Friday night in a shooting at a bar in Chihuahua city, according to a news dispatch posted on the online edition of La Polaka.  The attack took place at the Bar Las Animas near the intersection of calles Morelos and Allende in Centro Historic.  A number of armed suspects entered the bar and started shooting.  Seven each 9mm spent cartridge casings were found at the scene.
• An unidentified man in his 20s was found stabbed to death in Ciudad Juarez Friday, according to a news account which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Juarez.  The victim was found near then intersection of calles Pedro Rosales de Leon and Buenavista in Villahermosa colony.
• A 34 year old man was shot to death in Ciudad Juarez Friday night.  The victim, unofficially identified as Omar Alfredo Fereseres, was aboard a pickup truck at around 2020 hrs near the corner of calles Isla Aruba and Division del Norte in Guadalajara Izquierda colony when armed suspects aboard a Jeep Cherokee SUV fired on him, killing him.
• An unidentified man was shot and wounded in a carjacking in Ciudad Juarez Saturday afternoon.  The incident took place in Satelite colony near the corner of calles Venus and Saturno in front of a school.  The car that was stolen was for sale, according to reports.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com.  He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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7 die in Tamaulipas

A total of seven unidentified individuals were found dead in southern Tamaulipas state last week, according to Mexican news reports.

A news report which was posted on the online edition of Grupo Informador said the victims were found in three narcofosas, or burial pits in Abasolo municipality May 30th in Guadalupe ejido. 

A unit of the Mexican 8th Military Zone located the graves last Wednesday. The victims had been dead for about a year.  One of the dead was reportedly a woman.

Abasolo is roughly halfway between Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas and San Fernando.  It is on Tamaulipas Highway 38.

Meanwhile in Ciudad Victoria, an intergang firefight had led to the securing of weapons and ammunition, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news account which appeared on the website of Milenio news daily said the gunfight took place Monday at around 1655 hrs near the intersection of Calle 5 Ceros and Bulevar Praxedis Balboa between armed suspects.

The news report said he shooters were in two different vehicles, one Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and a compact sedan.

The gunfight took place in Horacio Teran colony and ended in Moderna colony.  A Mexican Army road patrol located a GMC Acadia where weapons were found.

Two rifles and six weapons magazines as well as a quantity of ammunition were seized.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com  he can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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9 found dead in Nuevo Leon

A total of nine unidentified individuals were found dead in a grave in northern Monterrey in Nuevo Leon state, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news account which appeared on the website of El Universal news daily, the victims were found in a grave on the banks on the Rio Silla between Nuevo Leon and Reforma colonies near the  intersection of calles Villa de Santiago and Agualeguas in Guadalupe municipality, a suburb of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon state.

Initial reports by the Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE), or attorney general were that two bodies were found.  Later it was reported that a total of nine were found.

The report of the medical examiner said that the victims died two days before and had been shot to death.

A separate news account which appeared more than two weeks ago on the website of El Porvenir news daily  said that one unidentified man was found on the banks of the Rio Silla near the intersection of  Avenida Paseo de las Américas and Calle Escritores Mexicanos in Contry La Silla colony.

The find was made at around 1115 hrs and the victim was not found in a grave.  Reports were the victim may have died of natural causes.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com

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100 bodies in Durango mass grave identified since January

To read the last Borderland Beat story on the Durango narcofosas, click here


By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Less than 30 percent of victims found in Durango's mass graves have been identified, according to Mexican news accounts.

Fiscalia de la Garza Fragoso

A news report posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or attorney general, Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso, released information that since the final report on the mass graves in Durango state in March, 2012, 100 bodies have been identified by family members, and then returned to them.

Starting in mid 2011, 331 total dead were found in a series of mass graves discovered in Durango state, primarily in Durango city, the capital. Other sites found were as far away as Gomez Palacio in the extreme western part of the state around the La Laguna area and in Santiago Papasquiaro municipality in the north.

Late July another nine dead were found in Cristobal Colon sector of Durango city, bringing the total to 340 dead.

Many of the victims had been killed as far back as 2007, and 77 percent of those had been strangled or asphyxiated, mainly by being buried alive.

de la Garza Fragoso said relatives such as grandparents and cousins were providing DNA samples to help with identification, a much less accurate means of determining the identity of the victims.  Some remains, however, are so decomposed that DNA samples are impossible to obtain, so, according to de la Garza Fragoso, other means are being used.

The mass graves in Durango are cumulatively the worst mass grave find in the Mexican Drug War to date.  That said, those murders occurred over a six year period. The mass murders and graves in San Fernando municipality in Tamaulipas state are by far the worst mass grave in the Mexican Drug War to date, standing at 193 dead.  Those deaths took place between August 2010 and May 2011.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

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33 dead found in Calera municipality in Zacatecas

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

As Mexican security forces field units conduct searches for graves in Calera municipality in Zacatecas state, the Procuraduria General de Estado (PGE), or state attorney general Arturo Nahle Garcia, announced Wednesday that the genetic profiles of 33 different individuals have been made from remains discovered more a year ago, according to Mexican news accounts.

Arturo Nahle Garcia

A news item posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas new daily said that the the remains from 43,000 body parts have been identified with the help of students from the Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas after they were discovered in July, 2011.

Mexican Army units at the time discovered 14 mass graves near the village of Las Negritas in late July, 2011.

The identity of four of the 33 individuals have already been determined, including a woman and two children as well as a man identified as Ernesto Cordero Anguiano.

Cordero Anguiano was reported missing in December, 2010 as part of a group of eight hunters from Guanajuato who were in Sierra de Morones when they went missing.
You read about the Las Negritas narcofosa find in 2011, by clicking here
On Tuesday morning, a unit of the Proteccion Civil staff from Fresnillo municipality located 11 metal drums and several clothing items near Rancho Los Angeles, which is in Calera municipality and near Los Negritos.  The drums were rusted and had been perforated with gunshots.

A Mexican Naval Infantry unit was later called to the location to  assist in the search for graves.

Nahle Garcia later released information that the drums did not appear to have any genetic material or remains,but were slated to be tested.

The original find in late July was made just after a large counternarcotics operation involving Mexican Army, Mexican Navy and Policia Federal troops ended in Jalisco and Zacatecas states in June, 2011.

Meanwhile, two unidentified armed suspects were killed in an armed encounter with a Mexican Army unit in Panfilo Natera municipality late Monday morning.

According to a separate article posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas, the army road patrol exchanged gunfire with an unknown number of armed suspects, killing two near El Rancho el Tejaban.

The description of the encounter suggested the road patrol happened upon a static armed encampment.

Following the conclusion of the firefight, soldiers seized eight AR-15 rifles, seven AK-47 rifles, 24 40mm grenades, four grenade launcher attachments, 217 weapons magazine, radios, tactical gear and one hand grenade.

Among the eight vehicles seized were one Dodge Ram pickup truck,  one Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck, one Ford Expedition SUV,  two GMC Sierra pickup trucks and three Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup trucks.

Two motorcycles were also seized at the scene.

Chris Covert writes Mexican drug war and national political news for Rantburg.com

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4 more dead found in Durango state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of four bodies were exhumed from two mass graves in far eastern Durango state Thursday, according to Mexican news reports.

The find was made in Lerdo municipality which is in the western part of the region colloquially known as La Laguna, which includes Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, Durango and Torreon  Coahuila.  A Mexican Army unit had been dispatched to the area based on an anonymous tip, which found the graves.

According to a report in El Siglo de Durango news daily, two graves were found three kilometers away from each other, the first was a  grave in Las Noas canyon area which contained the remains of two women in advanced state of decomposition.

The second pit was located in an area dubbed Los Compadres, which contained the remains of two men, also in a state of decomposition.

The report said the new find raises the death toll in Durango to 335, but plenty of doubt exists to that claim.

More than two weeks ago a Mexican Army unit began to excavate a site in Cristobal Colon colony in Durango city, where the last 50 dead were found last January. That report said the remains of at least one individual had been uncovered, and more were expected.

To date no further news has been released as to the new death toll by the Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or attorney general from the latest excavation in Durnago city.  The Durango FGE has been maintaining the count to date..

Last January when the last of the Cristobal Colon bodies were exhumed, confusion reigned as to the final death toll.  Local press had the total at 300, while Proceso news weekly counted 321.  This writer had the death toll at 330.

The great bulk of the dead found in Durango were killed in Durango city itself, more than 90 percent, while ten total were found in Lerdo municipality.  It had been determined by Durango state legal officials that nearly all the dead were killed between 2007 and 2011, and in the course of normal organized crime business.

While cumulatively the Durango mass graves are the worst in modern Mexican history, the honor of the worst mass murder goes to the San Fernando, Tamaulipas mass graves were 193 individuals were killed and buried between August 2010 and March 2011.  Those murders were all apparently done by the same criminal group.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

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Death in Durango: 4 die

To read background reports in the Durango mass graves, click here and here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A new grave has been found in Durango city in Durango state Wednesday, according to Mexican news reports.

According to a post on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, an army unit with the Mexican 10th Military Zone was dispatched to a location on Cristobal Colon in the capital at around 1100 hrs on a report of a mass grave, based on an anonymous citizen's complaint

Exhumation has already begun, and soldiers have already found one human arm.  The article hints more remains are expected.  

The last of the Durango state mass graves was declared last March by Durango Fiscalia General de Estado (FGE) or Durango state attorney general, Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragos, ending eight months of finds and exhumations that ended in January totalling 331 dead.  The graves, scattered throughout the state with most of them concentrated in Durango city, in toto are the largest mass grave find in the Mexican Drug War.

Fiscalia Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso

Cristobal Colon is the location where the last 50 remains were found.
So far, it is unclear if this new find will be added to the 331 death toll.

Many of the dead in the Durango mass graves date back years, as far as 2007.  Most of the dead from those finds, 287 of 331, had been strangled to death.  From the several news reports, it appears the victims were killed in the normal course of organized crime business in Durango state.

Far from a backwater in the Mexican Drug War, Durango state and its capital sits on Mexico Federal Highway 40, the northernmost continuous east west route, which stretches from the Sinaloa port of Mazatlan to Reynosa, Tamaulipas. 

Durango is also one of two state capitals, the other being Saltillo, Coahuila also located on the highway.  Mexico Federal Highway 40 also goes through the La Laguna region of Mexico with one of the heaviest concentrations of Mexican security troops in the north.

Three other dead were found in Durango state since last Tuesday, according to web reports posted on El Context de Durango news daily.

• An unidentified man in his 20s was found strangled to death in Durango municipality near the village of Metates Tuesday.  The victim was wrapped in a blanket and left on Mexico Federal Highway 40 at about the 27 kilometer marker between Durango and Mazatlan
• Two unidentified individuals in an advanced state of decomposition were found in Gomez Palacio municipality Tuesday.  The victims were found on a road connecting Jimenez ejido with Huitron ejido by a resident of the La Laguna region of Mexico, which includes Torreon, Coahuila as well as Gomez Palacio.

In an unrelated development, a Mexican Army unit seized drugs and guns near a village in Pueblo Nuevo in Durango, according to a post on El Sol de Mexico news daily website.

The raid took place two kilometers from the village of Cebollas where soldiers seized 417.8 kilograms of marijuana packaged in 44 units.  A total of 195 kilograms of marijuana seed in 13 sacks, and three sacks with a total of 44.9 kilograms of poppy seeds were seized as well.

Weapons taken in the raid included two rifles, one grenade launcher, 29 weapons magazines and 120 rounds of ammunition.

No detentions were reported in the raid.

Pueblo Nuevo municipality was the location last month where six unidentified suspected drug members died in an intergang shootout.  That shootout took place near the village of La Hierbabuena near the border with Sinaloa state.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

© Copyright 2012 by Chris Covert
You must obtain permission to reprint this article

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Mexican Army uncovers mass grave with 5 dead in Nuevo Leon state

Updated with information the dead found are not related to the Cadereyta massacre
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A Mexican Army unit of the 7th Military Zone has discovered a mass grave site in eastern Nuevo Leon state Friday evening, according to Mexican news sources.

An article posted on the website of Milenio news daily reported five narcofosas, or deep pits containing full skeletons discovered at around noon Friday.  At least five full sets of charred human remains have been exhumed and reports say more are expected.  Organized crime groups in the area have used remote sites such as the one near China for years to discard their victims.

One report by Excelsior news daily speculated that some partial remains were also found at the site saying some of those remains could be those of the 49 butchered individuals found last Sunday in Cadereyta, Nuevo Leon.

However, an Agency France-Prese Spanish language wire story posted on the Internet at midnight Saturday quoted an unidentified source with the Nuevo Leon attorney general's office saying the remains found were at least a year and more old, and ruled out the possibility those remains were of some of the victims found last Sunday in Cadereyta.  Those officials characterized the number of dead found as "indeterminate."

The find was about 10 kilometers along a road to Mendez, Tamaulipas, which is southeast of China.  China itself is 40 kilometers east of Monterrey and 30 kilometers east of Cadereyta, where the 49 unidentified individuals were found last Sunday.

The day before the discovery of the China mass graves, a Mexican Army unit detained eight unidentified individuals said to be members of a local Gulf Cartel group operating in the area.  News releases by the Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), the controlling agency for the Mexican Army, hinted the eight detainees may have had involvement in the 49 dead found in Cadereyta.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

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