REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Authorities in this border state will be using three new dogs trained to find bodies and clandestine graves. The acquisition follows years of cartel violence with thousands of kidnapping victims whom were never recovered and are presumed dead.

The Tamaulipas government received three Belgian Malinois from the Merida Initiative, a U.S. program to help Mexico improve security conditions. Named Ian, Vonda, and Drago, the dogs are trained to search for human remains and will be assigned to the attorney general’s office as part of the missing person’s unit.

For years, the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas–the leading drug trafficking organizations in the state–were behind thousands of murders and kidnap jobs…