Thread: 14 decapitated bodies found in Mexico resort city

14 decapitated bodies found in Mexico resort city

Published January 08, 2011
Associated Press
Comments (113)

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Police found the bodies of 15 slain men, 14 of them headless, on a street outside a shopping center in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco on Saturday.

Police in the southern state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located, said handwritten signs were left with the bodies, a common calling card of Mexico's cartels.

Acapulco has seen bloody turf battles between drug gangs in recent years.

The bodies were found in an area not frequented by tourists. The victims all appeared to be in their 20s.

It was the largest single group of decapitation victims in recent years.

In 2008, a group of 12 decapitated bodies were piled outside the Yucatan state capital of Merida. The same year, 9 headless men were found in the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo.

In keeping with a policy designed not to give the cartels publicity, state police did not release the text of the messages found with the bodies.

But Reforma newspaper reported that they referred to the Sinaloa cartel, headed by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Reforma said they apparently indicated the victims were killed by the Sinaloa cartel for trying to intrude on the gang's turf and extort residents.

At least 30,196 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against cartels in late 2006.

Also Saturday, authorities said a small-town mayor was found dead in northern Mexico.

Saul Vara Rivera, mayor of the municipality of Zaragoza, was reported missing by family members Wednesday, Coahuila state prosecutors said in a statement. His bullet-ridden body was discovered Friday in neighboring Nuevo Leon state.

There were no immediate arrests.

At least a dozen mayors were killed nationwide last year in acts of intimidation attributed to drug gangs.


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/08 ... 591571545/

related

Mexico's drug violence kills 23,000

Almost 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico, since a US-backed crackdown on cartels began more than three years ago.


The government report of 22,743 deaths since late 2006 was given to lawmakers as debates over the controversial use of the army in street battles against drug lords continued, Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Montt confirmed on Tuesday.

The worst-hit regions were said to lie in the north of the Latin American country near the 3,200-kilometer (2,000 mile) border with the US, which is the scene of a deadly tug of war between large drug cartels over control of lucrative drug trafficking routes into the United States.

According to the report some 9,635 people were killed in 2009 alone, making it the deadliest year in the drug war.

That compared to 2,837 in 2007, the first year of President Felipe Calderon's military-led offensive, shows a dramatic rise in violence mostly attributed to gangs lashing back at security forces and infighting among cartels.

The report adds that since 2006, military officials have detained over 121,000 drug suspects, but gave no further figure for how many of those had been convicted.

The increasing number of organized-crime deaths draws a gloomy picture of Mexico's war against drugs, showing little sign of containment despite the US-backed government's heavy crackdown against gangs and drug kingpins.

FF/MMA

http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/123292.html

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