Mexico: 49 bodies, some mutilated, dumped on a highway

A federal policeman guards the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo)

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) – Forty-nine bodies, at least some of them mutilated, have been found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border.

A law enforcement official says the bodies of 43 men and six women were found in the town of San Juan early this morning.

Federal and state police, joined by Mexican troops, sealed off the scene and closed off the highway, blocking the way for hundreds of motorists.

The discovery echoes several recent cases in which drug gangs have left bodies scattered in public places as warnings to rivals.

So far this month, 23 bodies were found dumped or hanging in the city of Nuevo Laredo and 18 were found along a highway south of Guadalajara.