7 burned, dismembered bodies found along highway in Mexico

Officials said they found seven burned and dismembered bodies in the bed of a pickup truck along a highway in western Mexico.

According to the Associated Press, the bodies were near where Jalisco and Michoacan states meet, a part of the country plagued with drug gang battles. The Michoacan state prosecutor's office said they were found early Saturday on a highway east of Lake Chapala, between the towns of Sahuayo and La Barca.

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Seventeen other bodies were discovered about 12 miles away along the same highway on Monday.

Michoacan is Mexican President Felipe Calderon's home state, noted CNN. Shortly after taking office in December 2006, he announced plans to deploy federal troops to help the government fight organized crime. Since then, more than 47,500 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said that more than 5300 people have disappeared throughout the country in the same period of time. The bodies of 9000 dead have also not been identified.

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