Authorities have uncovered a mass grave in Veracruz, an eastern state in Mexico, with at least 30 bodies buried on a ranch just outside of the town of Tres Valles.

Marines reportedly found the grave after spotting vultures on a dirt road. After making the harrowing discovery, the area was cordoned off by federal and local police as investigators excavated further.

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Authorities were not immediately able to pinpoint the identity of the victims, nor why they had been killed and buried there.

Officials did state that they would look for more bodies on the ranch, which is known as El Diamanté.

This isn't the first multi-body grave to be uncovered in Mexico recently. On Monday, authorities discovered seven bodies in the nearby town of Cosamaloapan and were able to draw a connection between the seven victims and one of those at the El Diamanté ranch, stating that the eight dead were all related.

Although authorities have not established the motive for the killings, they are looking into the possibility that drug cartels might have something to do with it.

Drug cartels in Mexico periodically kidnap, torture, and kill people in an effort to show power and to gain control of certain areas.

Veracruz has long been a point of contention between two of the most notorious cartels in the country: Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. The two have been battling for control of the state for quite some time.

Massive graves have been found in Mexico in the past and the victims have generally been traced to migrants moving through the country from South and Central America.

As drug cartels control migrant-smuggling routes, it is not uncommon for them to kill migrants traveling along their roads.

It is estimated that tens of thousands of migrants from Central America cross through regions controlled by Mexico's drug cartels every year in a bid to make it to the United States.

TagsMexico mass grave, Mexico drug cartel