Mexico unearths two dozen unmarked graves in search for missing people

A search for some of the tens of thousands of people who have gone missing in Mexico in recent decades has uncovered two dozen unmarked graves in Tamaulipas state, officials said Monday.

Eleven graves were found in Reynosa, a city near the border with the United States, “and it is estimated they contain 22 bodies,” Tamaulipas security spokesman Jorge Cuellar told the Milenio newspaper.

Most of the bones found were estimated to have been buried there between 10 and 14 months ago, he added.

The northern state of Tamaulipas is among areas in the country battered by organized crime.

Mexico has recorded more than 110,000 disappearances, the majority attributed to criminal organizations, since 1962.

It has also registered more than 350,000 murders since the launch of a controversial, military-involved anti-drug offensive in December 2006.

Frustrated by the official process, many relatives search for missing loved ones on their own with pickaxes and shovels.

Tamaulipas is home to frequent clashes between organized crime groups battling over lucrative drug trafficking routes.

In March, four Americans were kidnapped in the city of Matamoros by suspected drug traffickers.

With some 13,000 on record, Tamaulipas has the second highest number of disappeared people after Jalisco state, which has nearly 15,000.