32 bodies and nine human heads were discovered in a municipality in southern Mexico by investigators searching concealed graves.
The area where the shocking discovery was made was a place where rival drug gangs have been engaged in a wave of extortion, kidnappings and turf battles. Drug gangs frequently decapitate their victims, the Guardian reports.
Soldiers and police found the graves at an outlaw camp in Guerrero state after receiving a tip that people were being held at the site located near a mountain in the municipality of Zitlala.
They said they rescued a kidnap victim and discovered 12 bodies and human remains in coolers.
Later, officials declared that further excavations of the site had found a total of 32 bodies and nine human heads.
Residents of the community of Tixtla, Guerrero found nine decapitated bodies on Monday along a highway. Prosecutors are looking into whether the nine heads found in Zitlala correspond to these bodies.
Guerrero has seen an upsurge in gang-related violence. The government announced on Monday that it is stepping up the use of joint police-army patrols in areas known to be particularly violent.