Eight bodies found along Mexico highway

Mexican authorities have recovered eight bodies – some dismembered – that were dumped alongside a highway in southwestern Mexico.

Mexican police said Monday that they had recovered the bodies of eight kidnap victims left roadside in the troubled southern state of Guerrero.

The victims were all related, two of them women and later identified by relatives.

Detectives are still searching for three more people who were kidnapped with the group last Thursday.

Guerrero is one of Mexico’s poorest and violence-plagued states as both self-defense groups, also known as vigilante groups, and drug cartels operate in the area.

During this year, several vigilante groups have emerged in Guerrero and in the neighboring state of Michoacan. The groups say local police are either unable or unwilling to stop crimes committed by gangs, including cases such as homicides, kidnappings and extortion.

President Enrique Pena Nieto admitted in July that organized criminal gangs have gained the upper hand in some parts of the country, including the two states, despite increased military troops in those areas.

Official data show that every month since Nieto took office in December 2012 an additional 1,000 people die in violence linked to drug cartels and the Mexican army is still fighting gangs across large parts of the country.