Fifteen bodies have been found in a southeastern region of Mexico plagued by drug cartels

The bodies of 15 people have been recovered from pits in the troubled southern Mexican state of Chiapas drug cartel violence.

In a post on X, Chiapas Governor Eduardo Ramirez detailed an operation to restore stability in Frailesca, a farming region near Guatemala where rival cartels have engaged in a turf war.

“Unfortunately, 15 bodies have been found so far in secret graves in two properties,” Ramirez wrote on social media on Saturday.

He added that weapons, vehicles and drugs were also confiscated and four people were arrested, although he did not say whether they were accused of involvement in the deaths of the 15 people.

Mexico cartel-related violence focuses on or along drug smuggling routes, borders and ports of entry.

InSight Crime’s advisory team described the state of Chiapas as a “major hub for both drug and migrant smuggling.”

For the last two years Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels engaged in bloody turf battles in Chiapas that included killing entire families and forcing villages to take sides in the dispute. Hundreds of Chiapas residents had to flee to neighboring Guatemala for safety reasons.

Since Mexico launched a controversial anti-drug operation in 2006, it has recorded more than 450,000 murders and the disappearance of tens of thousands of people, according to official figures.

In October, the famous Catholic priest Marcelo Pérezwho was an activist for indigenous people and farm workers, was shot and killed in Chiapas.

Pérez, 50, often received threats but continued to work as a peace activist. Human rights activists said Pérez did not receive needed government protection.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on October 1, has pledged to follow the policy of her predecessor and mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of not confronting drug cartels. These policies did not significantly contribute to reducing violence.

Mexican authorities on Thursday discovered 12 bodies buried in secret graves in the northern state of Chihuahua.

Authorities discovered 11 graves containing 12 skeletons in the commune of Ascension near the U.S. border, prosecutors said in a statement.