In a valley outside the western city of Guadalajara, 45 bags containing human remains have been discovered by Mexican officials.
When the bodies were discovered, authorities were looking for seven teenage call center employees who had gone missing last week.
The number of dead is yet unknown, but the remains include both males and women.
Due to the challenging terrain and inadequate daylight, the search is anticipated to last for several days.
Following a tip-off in the hunt for the seven individuals, the state prosecutor’s office for the western state of Jalisco announced in a statement that they had started looking at the Mirador del Bosque ravine where they discovered the bags containing body parts.
The cause of the remains’ placement in the ravine has not yet been determined, but crimes involving disappearance are rather frequent in Mexico.
According to government statistics, there are more than 100,000 persons missing, many of them are victims of organized crime. Rarely are perpetrators penalized.
According to official statistics, a significant number of people have vanished since 2007, when Felipe Calderón, the then-president, declared a “war on drugs”.
One fifth of those reported missing were under the age of 18 at the time of their disappearance, and three quarters of those missing were men.
Families of the missing claim that the government is not doing enough to look for them and that when they report their loved ones missing, officials show no concern.
According to government statistics, there are more than 100,000 persons missing, many of them are victims of organized crime. Rarely are perpetrators penalized.
It has been referred to as “a human tragedy of enormous proportions” by the UN.