19 bodies found in mine shaft in Mexico

By Andrea Sosa Cabrios

Mexico  City (dpa) – Mexican police found at least 19 bodies in

the ventilation shaft of a mine near the central city of Pachuca,

Mexican media reported Monday citing police officers.

The mine was reportedly used as a mass grave by organized crime

killers.

The Public Security Ministry in the state of Hidalgo told the

German Press Agency dpa that some bodies had been found at the mine,

but stressed that “there was officially not an exact number of

victims” because the search through the site, which started over the

weekend, was ongoing Monday.

The mine is about 90 kilometres northeast of Mexico City, and its

ventilation shaft was apparently being used by the criminal gang Los

Zetas to throw the bodies of its victims. Several of the bodies found

were mutilated, and some were heavily decomposed.

Earlier this year, Mexican authorities found more than 50 bodies

in the ventilation shaft of a mine in Taxco, in the southern state of

Guerrero, and in a rubbish dump in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

Mexican authorities estimate more than 28,000 people have been

killed in the country in incidents linked to organized crime since

Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

Calderon has escalated the fight against drug gangs by deploying

additional national security forces.