5 Skeletal Remains Found On Reservation In Arizona; The Drug War In The Desert Expands Targeting Children

5 sets of skeletal remains were found in Arizona, in the desert west of Tucson. The 5 skeletal remains appear to be homicide victims and the 5 remains could have been in the desert for as long as a year.

The 5 sets of skeletal remains in Arizona are believed to be remains from Mexicans or Central Americans because of their clothing and currency. The 5 remains were partly covered by rocks in the desert about 130 miles south of Phoenix, Arizona near the town of Sells on the Tohono O'Odham Reservation.

The 5 victims were either killed where they were found in the desert, or killed elsewhere and dropped at the desert location. The remains suggest that the 5 people were either shot or beaten.

"We are treating it as a likely homicide. However, we don't know how those injuries were inflicted yet, and whether or not those injuries were blunt force injuries that caused the bones to be traumatized or were gunshot injuries," Police said.

"We believe that they are the remains of 5 foreign nationals who were killed either there or somewhere else and put in that location," they added.

Asked if he thought the victims had died together, he said: "Probably."

The age, sex and time of death of the 5 victims has yet to be established. However, personal effects, including currency, found with the remains were "consistent" with them being from Mexico or Central America, or somewhere else.

The 5 skeletal remains were found in an area in the Arizona desert that is frequented by those smuggling drugs or humans, across the boarder between the US and Mexico. It is not uncommon to find skeletal remains in the smuggling corridor, as the desert conditions are harsh.

Drug smuggling has been highly prevalent in recent years in the Tohono O'Odham Reservation.

When the U.S. Border Patrol clamped down on crossings in an area east of the reservation five years ago, smuggling rings moved their routes to the forbidding 60-mile backcountry corridor that crosses Tohono O'odham lands. Two billion dollars worth of marijuana, cocaine and heroin have moved through the reservation since then.

In October 2011, federal agents learned that backpacks with marijuana were being trafficked from a residence in Cockleburr, a small village in the northern part of the Tohono O'odham Nation, south of Interstate 8.

The drug cartel there is also targeting children on the Tohono O'odham Nation to help push drugs. Perhaps the 5 skeletal remains found may be just the evidence police need to stop the drug wars in the area.