More than 250 human skulls were unearthed from a mass grave outside Mexico's port city of Veracruz, state prosecutor Jorge Winckler announced March 14. Winckler said the remains are of cartel victims, slain some years earlier. While details on how this latest find came to light were not forthcoming, the survivors' group Colectivo Solecito has been carrying out its own search for "narco-graves" in Veracruz state, hoping to discover the remains of disappeared loved ones. Last year, the collective discovered some 30 clandestine graves, but this would be the biggest such gruesome discovery yet.

Winckler said searches are ongoing in the area where the grave was found. "I can't imagine how many more people could be there, illgally buried," he told OEM en Linea news service."Veracruz is an enormous grave. It is the biggest grave in Mexico, and possibly one of the biggest in the world."

Veracruz has been traditionally dominated by Los Zetas narco-network, but since 2011 has been the scene of a bloody struggle as the Zetas seek to defend their Gulf Coast domain from aggressive inroads by the rival Jalisco New Generation cartel.

However, Winckler's strong words may indicate that he is feeling pressure from below, Citizens' groups like the Colectivo Solecito accuse the authorities of dragging their feet in the effort to locate and identify the disappeared.

Cross-post to High Times and Global Ganja Report