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Severed heads tossed onto dance floor
From correspondents in Mexico City

September 07, 2006 12:00


FIVE severed human heads were thrown onto a dance floor in a crowded disco in western Mexico, officials said.

Authorities blamed the grisly scene on rival drug gangs.

“Hooded men dressed in black stormed into a bar, fired into the air and threw down five heads,” said Rosaura Trujillo, a spokeswoman for the Michoacan state prosecutor's office.

The men also left a card with the message: “The family does not kill for money. It does not kill women. It does not kill innocents. It kills only those who deserve to die. Everyone take note - this is divine justice.”

According to the local radio station Formato 21, the club, known as “Sol y Sombra,” or “Sun and Shade,” is a favourite of drug gangs.

Ms Trujillo said that after other recent murders, including decapitations, officials had found references to “the family”, but she could not say whether it referred to a specific group or a battle between families.

Michoacan is the scene of a war between rival gangs of drug traffickers that has left some 300 people dead since the beginning of the year