15 bodies found in southeastern Mexican region plagued by drug cartel violence

The bodies of 15 people have been recovered from wells in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas which has been plagued by drug cartel violence.

In a post on X, Chiapas State Gov. Eduardo Ramirez detailed an operation to restore stability to Frailesca, an agricultural region near Guatemala where rival cartels have been involved in a turf war.

“Unfortunately, 15 bodies (have been found) so far in secret graves in two properties,” Ramirez wrote Saturday on social media.

He added that weapons, vehicles and drugs were also seized and four people were arrested, although he did not say whether they were alleged to have participated in the deaths of the 15 people.

Mexico cartel-related violence is concentrated in or along drug trafficking routes, borders and ports of entry.

The state of Chiapas has been described by the think tank InSight Crime as “a major center of drug and migrant smuggling”.

For the last two years, the Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation cartels have been engaged in bloody turf battles in Chiapas that have involved killing entire families and forcing villages to take sides in the dispute. Hundreds of residents of Chiapas had to flee to neighboring Guatemala for their safety.

Since Mexico launched its controversial anti-drug operation in 2006, it has recorded more than 450,000 murders and tens of thousands of people have disappeared, according to official figures.

In October, a well-known Catholic priest Marcelo Pérezwho was an activist for indigenous peoples and agricultural workers, was shot and killed in Chiapas.

Pérez, 50, had often received threats, but continued to work as a peace activist. Human rights advocates said Pérez did not receive the government protection he needed.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on October 1, has promised to follow the policy of her predecessor and mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of not confronting drug cartels. The policy has failed to significantly reduce violence.

On Thursday, Mexican authorities discovered 12 bodies buried in clandestine graves in the northern state of Chihuahua.

Authorities discovered 11 graves containing 12 skeletons in the town of Ascension near the US border, the state attorney’s office said in a statement.