Prosecutors in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua announced on Saturday the discovery of at least 56 bodies in an unmarked mass graves not far from the U.S. border, CBS News reported.

Chihuahua is known for being a hotbed of drug-related crimes and weapons trafficking in addition to being a known route for migrants traveling to the U.S.

The bodies were exhumed earlier this week in a military assisted operation that lasted several days. Prosecutors offered no details about the possible identify of the victims. The remains included some bodies, some complete skeletons, and other partial remains, as well as clothing and bullet casings.

The bodies were exhumed in an area known as "El Willy," controlled by a criminal organization called La Linea, one of the armed branches of the Ciudad Juarez cartel active on the border, according to local media reports.

The grave was first discovered on Jan. 15, and a spokesperson from the attorney general's office in Juarez saying four bodies were initially found. The number climbed steadily over the next week as more bodies were recovered.

More than 450,000 people have been murdered countrywide since Mexico launched a major offensive against drug cartels in 2006.

News of the mass grave in Chihuahua comes the same week as President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to begin its deployment of 1,500 active-duty troops to help secure the southern border.

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