A group of relatives searching for some of Mexico's roughly 100,000 missing persons said it had discovered around two dozen bags containing human remains in a clandestine cemetery.
The bones and other charred remains were found on Sunday at a ranch in El Salto in the western state of Jalisco, according to the Guerreros Buscadores collective.
After arriving at the site accompanied by National Guard personnel, the group discovered a smoking pit oven and noticed a foul stench, according to one of its members, Indira Navarro.
"While exploring, we began to locate bones, skin and burnt human flesh," she told AFP, adding: "We're talking about a clandestine cemetery."
There was no immediate comment from the state prosecutor's office, which was expected to inspect the site.
Collectives searching for missing persons say that drug trafficking cartels and other organized crime gangs use brick and other ovens to incinerate their victims and leave no trace.
Most of Mexico's missing persons have vanished since the country launched a major offensive against the cartels in 2006.
Jalisco, known as the territory of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, has become a hotbed for disappearances and turf wars among rival drug factions. Recently, authorities in the region discovered five lifeless bodies stacked inside a bulletproof SUV.
Just last June, in Jalisco, officials stumbled upon 45 bags filled with human remains in a ravine. And four months prior to that, 31 bodies were unearthed from two clandestine graves in Jalisco.
Moreover, the country has witnessed nearly 450,000 homicides since 2006.
The forensic system in Mexico is struggling to cope, with tens of thousands of unidentified corpses left unclaimed in morgues or mass burial sites.
