SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The remains of four more people were discovered Thursday in what’s being called the “Narco Cemetery,” a clandestine mass grave near the border, about 150 miles east of Tijuana, investigators said.
Since the second week in July, and under intense heat that has bordered on 115 degrees daily, police and a citizens-search team called Strong and United Mothers, have been digging at the site, and so far, they have unearthed 18 bodies.
They began searching after an anonymous tip led them to the area, near the Baja California-Sonora state line.
Initially, the people involved were looking for three teens who disappeared after a night at a bar in Mexicali.
According to police, the site has become a draw for onlookers, and officers have been forced to restrict access.
Investigators say the bodies have been found very close to one another, with some being uncovered about 6 feet below the desert floor.
The area has been dubbed the “Narco Cemetery.”
Investigators say they suspect a gang called “Los Rusos,” or the Russians in English, as the ones who buried the bodies.
Los Rusos reportedly operate under orders from drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is in a violent struggle to take control of the area from the Sinaloa cartel and the sons of Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, who are known as “Los Chapitos.”
So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the bodies.
Searchers say they will continue digging until the “entire perimeter has been combed.”