Ten bodies have been removed from a new mass grave which was found in Durango last Wednesday by Mexican soldiers. The discovery was made public Monday when state authorities in Durango said they were performing forensic tests to establish the identities of those buried in the pit.
More than 280 bodies have been discovered in mass graves around Durango since April. Many of the bodies were found in an advanced state of decomposition and state investigators were criticized for allegedly mishandling evidence. Only ten percent of the bodies have been identified.
A February 2010 US diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks described Durango as “the state unraveling most rapidly” – a strong statement in the context of the drug war related violence that has been wracking northern Mexico for years.