Mass Grave in Mexico Found as Federal Authorities Disarm Police

A mass grave in Mexico was discovered Saturday near the small town of Iguala in southern Mexico.

Federal authorities have taken over the investigation of the mass grave in Mexico and are trying to identify the bodies. Corruption of the local police force and growing amounts of violence have plagued the area. Federal Mexican authorities have disarmed the entire local police force in Iquala as the investigation begins into the mass grave.

Days before the mass grave in Mexico was discovered there was a violent clash between students at the local school that trains future teachers and is known for their radical views and political activism. The local police and one of the local drug gangs, Guerreros Unidos, were involved in the night of violence against the students which ended with more than 25 people wounded, six dead, and 43 students missing. Mexican authorities arrested 29 individuals in connection with the night of violence before the discovery of the mass grave in Mexico. Twenty-two of those arrested were local police officers and many say the police force is working for the area’s drug lords.

While authorities say that sorting through the DNA evidence to identify the bodies will take weeks, many fear that the mass grave in Mexico holds many of those missing students. A known gang hit-man with known ties to the Iquala police force has confessed to killing 17 of the missing students at the mass grave site. However, this has not yet been confirmed and authorities are still looking for the rest of the missing students.

There have been at least 28 bodies recovered from the mass grave in Mexico, most of them have been too burned or mutilated for identification. It could be weeks, or even months before families get answers about the identities of the bodies discovered in the mass grave in Mexico and as the parents grow angrier and demand answers, a nationwide march is being planned for Wednesday that will bring the nation to a standstill, says a spokesman for the families of the missing students.

While motive has not yet been determined, it is believed that the mass graves in Mexico were a warning to the teacher’s college for their radical, political views and any others who would question the authority of the drug lords in charge of the area. As the families desperately await news of their missing loved ones, Mexican authorities patrol the streets in Iquala, at least for now, and they are guarding the mass grave in Mexico while the local police force are all being held in custody pending an investigation.

[Photo Credit: AP]