The remains of 59 bodies have been discovered in clandestine graves in a region of central Mexico that has suffered some of the highest levels of drug violence in recent years, national authorities said on Wednesday.

The grim discovery was made in the Salvatierra municipality of Guanajuato state, where the homicide rate has surged amid a raging turf war between rival drug cartels.

At least 10 of the corpses were women and most of the bodies belonged to very young people, even teenagers, according to Karla Quintana, head of Mexico's National Search Commission.

Alarm raised by relatives of missing persons led to the largest discovery of clandestine graves in Guanajuato, she told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

‘We have more possible positive developments, with which we will continue working here until we have finished the job,’ she said.

Guanajuato recorded 2,250 homicides between January and August of this year, according to official data, a more than 25% increase over the same period last year.