Mexican officials identify eight bodies from mass grave near Gulf Coast

Aided by people searching for missing relatives, Mexican officials identified on Thursday eight of 31 bodies pulled this week from a clandestine grave uncovered near Mexico´s Gulf Coast.

Mexican marines found the grave Monday on a ranch in Cosamaloapan township in the state of Veracruz. The grave is on a property formerly owned by the late mayor of a nearby town in a region dominated by Mexico's Los Zetas gang.

State officials say some of the bodies had been buried for at least six months. The investigation indicated the victims could be from surrounding communities, the officials said.

The discovery of such graves has punctuated eight years of criminal warfare in Mexico that has killed or left missing some 100,000 people. More than 340 bodies were dug from graves in the backyards of middle class homes in the state capital of western Durango two years ago. In 2011, nearly 200 bodies were recovered from pits in the town of San Fernando, about 90 miles below the South Texas border.

Officials pulled at least 70 bodies from another grave discovered last November near Lake Chapala, a resort area popular with U.S. and Canadian retirees outside the western city of Guadalajara.

This week's discovery lies not far from the oil fields of Veracruz and the neighboring Tabasco state, which Mexican officials hope will be developed by private foreign and Mexican firms. A rail line, over which train-hopping Central American migrants ride en route to the U.S., cuts through the area.

Mexican federal officials say drug-related murders have decreased by some 15% this year, compared with 2013. But critics contend warring drug-cartel rivals seem be opting to hide their victims by burying them secretly or dissolving them in acid.

Friday 20 June 2014

http://online.wsj.com/articles/mexican-officials-identify-eight-bodies-from-mass-grave-near-gulf-coast-1403215623