( CNN ) -- Mexican federal police rescued 51 migrant hostages who were being held in northeastern Mexico , the country 's public security ministry said Tuesday . The hostages were found Monday inside a house in the city of Reynosa , across the border from McAllen , Texas . The operation followed the rescue of 68 hostages the previous week , also in Reynosa . The city is about 90 miles north of the town of San Fernando , where authorities recently uncovered 177 bodies from mass graves . Many of the bodies are believed to be those of bus passengers who were kidnapped . San Fernando is also where the bodies of 72 migrants were found last year . Among the rescued people this week , police identified 27 Mexicans , 14 Guatemalans , two Hondurans , two Salvadorans and six Chinese . Two people were arrested in connection with the earlier rescue , but no one was taken into custody for Monday 's discovery . The state of Tamaulipas , where Reynosa and San Fernando are located , is the site of a bloody battle between rival drug cartels . The Gulf cartel and Zetas cartel used to work together , but split more than a year ago and are now fighting for control of lucrative smuggling routes into the United States .
Federal police rescued 68 hostages in Mexico , Reynosa . They rescued another 51 hostages more than a year ago . The area is the site of a war between rival drug cartels .