GUATEMALA CITY — The remains of 16 Guatemalan migrants killed near the Mexico-U.S. border in late January were returned to their native country Friday.

They landed in Guatemala’s capital, where they were met with flower wreaths and their waiting relatives. The remains were scheduled to be driven directly to their communities in Guatemala’s San Marcos department, which borders southern Mexico.

The Guatemalan government declared three days of mourning.

The bodies were found piled in a charred pickup truck in Camargo, across the Rio Grande from Texas, in an area that has been bloodied for years by turf battles between the remnants of the Gulf cartel and the old Zetas cartel.

A dozen Tamaulipas state police officers were arrested in connection with the killings. The remains were flown from the Mexican border city of Reynosa early Friday.