Authorities surrounded a camp in the Mexican town of Zitlala Wednesday, after seven bodies were discovered in improvised graves and human remains were found in a portable cooler, prosecutors said, according to dpa. The gruesome discoveries were made in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where a wave of violence left approximately 30 people dead over the weekend, and where several people were still missing after a mass kidnapping. Organized crime groups including La Familia Michoacana were active in the region and responsible for a wave of kidnappings for ransom of teachers and farmers, said Guerrero state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez. "The big cartels have become small criminal groups that have one characteristic: extreme and irrational use of violence," Alvarez told MVS Radio. The discovery Tuesday came just one day after authorities found 12 decapitated bodies in two locations elsewhere in the state. Three were identified as people reported kidnapped by La Familia Michoacana. Guerrero Governor Hector Astudillo on Tuesday condemned the violence as "barbarism and savagery," which he attributed to crime gangs trafficking heroin and other drugs. In some areas of Guerrero armed civilian militias known as "self-defense groups" have sprung up to protect themselves from the violence. More than 1,800 killings have been reported in Guerrero since the beginning of 2016 - putting it in second place behind Mexico state for the country's highest homicide rate - as well as dozens of reported kidnappings. Forty-three students disappeared in Guerrero in 2014, in an incident that prompted an international investigation and accusations of a cover-up. Additionally, human remains have been found in several improvised graves around the state.
