Dozens of bodies dumped onto Mexico motorway

Dozens of bodies, at least some of them mutilated, were found today dumped on a motorway near the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, officials said.

A law enforcement official said 37 bodies were found in the town of San Juan on the non-toll motorway to the border city of Reynosa at about 4am local time (9am Irish time), but officials were still investigating.

Authorities closed off the motorway, blocking the way for hundreds of motorists, as federal and state police, joined by Mexican troops, sealed off the scene.

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

Thirty-five bodies were left at a motorway overpass in the city of Veracruz in September. Twenty-six were found in November in Guadalajara.