MEXICO CITY, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- In the past 13 years, 3,024 clandestine graves with approximately 4,874 bodies inside have been found across Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration said Friday.
The graves were discovered from Jan. 1, 2007, to Aug. 30, 2018. Most of them in the northern states of Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and Zacatecas, the western states of Sinaloa and Jalisco, and Guerrero in the south, said Karla Quintana, head of the National Search Committee under the Ministry of the Interior.
"This is the first time that the number of clandestine graves in the country since the end of 2006 to date is officially acknowledged," Quintana told a press conference in the presence of Lopez Obrador.
The data on hidden graves nationwide was released on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances falling on Friday.
Since the current administration took office in December, 522 clandestine graves with 671 bodies have been found, of which 200 were identified, said Quintana.
Most of the missing people are linked to organized crime, although some disappearances are involved with local police, said Alejandro Encinas, undersecretary of human rights, population and migration at the Interior Ministry.
"We reaffirm the absolute commitment of the federal government (to fight) this serious violation of human rights," he said.
"The search for missing people is the priority of this administration," Encinas added.
Lopez Obrador reported Monday that, according to official records, there are 26,000 unidentified bodies in forensic facilities.
According to experts, Mexico has been suffering from an upsurge of violence due to the fragmentation of large drug cartels into smaller criminal groups, which fight for the territory and control of narcotics production, distribution and trafficking.
