Mexico Drug War Investigators Unearth 47 More Skulls in Mass Graves

A police cordon marks the perimeter of the site of unmarked graves where a forensic team and judicial authorities are working in after human skulls were found, in Alvarado, in Veracruz state, Mexico on March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yahir Ceballos

MEXICO CITY—Investigators unearthed the skulls of 47 more suspected victims of Mexico’s drug war in Veracruz state, just days after uncovering 250 skulls at a separate mass grave used by drug cartels, the state’s attorney general said on Sunday.

Veracruz, on Mexico’s Gulf coast, has long been a stomping ground for criminal gangs, who fight over lucrative drug and migrant smuggling routes.

Giving details on the latest grisly find, Jorge Winckler said the skulls and remains of multiple body parts were unearthed from eight unmarked graves, clustered in a 120 sq meter area, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the town of Alvarado.

So far, Winckler said, investigators had positively identified one three-person family, missing since September 2016, and the remains of two other men.

Relatives and friends of slain journalist Ricardo Monlui leave a church after his funeral mass in Cordoba, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, Mexico on March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yahir Ceballos