Mexican authorities have found the skeletal remains of 11 people in hidden graves in a suburb of Guadalajara.
CBS News reported that the local prosecutor's office said the graves are similar to dozens of other cases in the Jalisco area. Significant violence perpetrated by drug cartels has impacted the area.
Reuters added that Mexico has about 130,000 missing persons. However, the country recently admitted that as many as 40,000 of those cases might involve people who are alive, based on activity such as tax filings.
That still leaves tens of thousands of individuals unaccounted for. CBS News reported that Jalisco has more than 15,900 missing person cases. Authorities have blamed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) for the disappearances.
At the same press briefing where authorities discussed the skeletal remains, officials told CBS News that they had recently found 12 bags that contained human remains at a construction site in nearby Tlajomulco.
Last year, authorities in Jalisco found a mass grave with at least 34 individuals, the Associated Press reported. The bodies were packed into 169 bags and were found at a construction site in the city of Zapopan.
Earlier this year, Mexican authorities launched an operation against JNGC, resulting in the death of the cartel's leader, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera. His death sparked violence for days throughout the country. In retaliation, CJNG members torched buses and businesses, erecting over 250 blockades in 20 states.
CJNG is one of the drug cartels that has been classified as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration. "CJNG has conducted intimidating acts of violence, including attacks on Mexican military and police with military grade weaponry, the use of drones to drop explosives on Mexican law enforcement, and assassinations or attempted assassinations of Mexican officials," according to the U.S. Department of State.
