Police find fourth burned body in Mexican border city

Police say they found the burned body of an undentified man in this border city on Wednesday, the fourth such discovery in less than a week.

The body was found just past midnight along a desolate road leading to an international bridge to Laredo, Texas, said Jose Gaznares, a police commander for Tamaulipas state.

Investigators found the burned remains on top of a pile of wood and also located two bullet casings. Gaznares said investigators were waiting for autopsy results to determine whether the victim was dead before being set ablaze .

The man is the fourth person slain and burned in less than a week in Nuevo Laredo, where more than 120 people have been killed overall this year, most in a battle between two of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels for control of key smuggling routes into the United States.

On June 8, the Nuevo Laredo police chief was gunned down within hours of taking office, prompting President Vicente Fox to send hundreds of soldiers and federal agents in to try to restore order, AP reported.