Story highlights Many of the bodies have bullet wounds and show signs of torture

They have not yet been identified

Drug cartels operate in the region and are battling for control

Mexican authorities have found 42 bodies buried in mass graves in western Mexico this month, the Attorney General's Office said Monday.

Many of the bodies had bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, according to federal authorities at the crime scene.

The bodies have not yet been identified.

The 22 graves, in the town of La Barca in the state of Jalisco, were discovered as part of an investigation into the disappearance of two federal agents.

"We started the investigation when two police officers disappeared," said Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam.

"We found that those responsible for the disappearances of these police officers were municipal police, practically all of them municipal police officers.

"We detained them, and from that investigation we found a place where the federal agents might have been buried," he added.

According to the attorney general, the federal officers were not among the bodies found in the mass graves. An investigation is ongoing.

Drug cartels, including the Knights Templar and Jalisco New Generation, operate in the region and are battling for control.