Two bodies hung from overpass in eastern Tijuana

By Sandra Dibble
Friday, November 19, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.

TIJUANA — Efforts to retrieve two corpses hung from an overpass in eastern Tijuana created lengthy delays for early morning commuters Friday.

Tijuana municipal police received a report at 5:30 a.m. that two men’s bodies were suspended from the Los Alamos bridge above the Via Rapida Oriente, a busy highway that leads from eastern Tijuana toward downtown and the border.

By the time officers arrived, one of the corpses had fallen onto the roadway, and was lying nude and face down, a police spokesman said. The one still hanging had his hands taped, the spokesman said. A message had been left by the bodies, but authorities wouldn’t reveal its content.

The victims were not immediately identified. Criminal groups fighting for territory have typically used such gruesome displays to intimidate and send messages to rival gangs. On Thursday, a severed head was found off a heavily transited road in southern Tijuana. So far this year, more than 720 people have been killed, the majority the result of infighting between drug gangs, authorities said.

The crimes come as authorities have claimed a reduction of high-impact crimes such as beheadings and hangings. They also are happening at a time of political transition in the city, with a new mayor, Carlos Bustamante, scheduled to start his term Dec. 1.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... n-tijuana/