49 Bodies Dumped On Mexican Highway

Forty-nine bodies were found in the early hours of Sunday morning on the side of a highway that connects the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border. According to officials at least some of the discovered bodies were mutilated before they were dumped on the side of the road.

According to Mexican law enforcement officers 43 men and six women were found in the town of San Juan and were dumped at the non-toll highway near the border city of Reynosa. Officials say the bodies were dumped at around 4 a.m. but officials are still investigating.

Several hundred motorists were blocked from the highway as authorities closed down the road so federal and state police could join Mexican troops in examining the sealed off scene.

Official reports are not being released at this time and the one law enforcement agent willing to speak did so under the promise of anonymity since information has not been authorized for public use.

Mexican drug gangs have been known to leave bodies scattered in public places as a warning to rivals stepping on their turf. In September 35 bodies were left at a freeway overpass in the city of Veracruz. Twenty-six bodies were also dumped in November in Guadalajara.

This recent dumping is not the first to occur in May, 23 bodies were dumped and left hanging in Nuevo Lareda and 18 more were found this month along a highway in Guadalajara.

Bodies are often found mutilated and even beheaded in various towns known for Mexican gangs and drug cartels.