Four decapitated bodies were found hanging from a bridge in the capital of the western Mexican state of Sinaloa on Monday, June 30. The discovery comes amid a wave of cartel violence in which nearly 20 people were killed in a single day, authorities reported.
A bloody war for control between two factions of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel has turned the city of Culiacán into an epicenter of cartel violence since the conflict erupted last year between the two groups, Los Chapitos and La Mayiza.
Bodies appear scattered throughout Culiacán daily, homes are riddled with bullets, and businesses and schools frequently close their doors during waves of violence. Masked youths on motorcycles patrol the city’s main avenues.
On Monday, Sinaloa state prosecutors said four bodies were found hanging from the highway bridge leading out of the city, their heads inside a plastic bag.
On Monday, on the same highway, authorities reported finding 16 more men with gunshot wounds, crammed into a white pickup truck, one of whom was decapitated. Authorities said the bodies were left with a note, apparently from one of the cartel factions, although the note’s contents were not disclosed.
Feliciano Castro, spokesman for the Sinaloa government, condemned the killings and said authorities needed to review their strategy for confronting organized crime given the “magnitude” of the violence observed.
“The military and police forces are working together to restore total peace in Sinaloa,” Castro said.
However, most in the western Mexican state say authorities have lost control.
In September of last year, a bloody power struggle erupted between two rival factions, paralyzing the city.
The war for territorial control was triggered by the dramatic kidnapping of one of the gang’s leaders by a son of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who then handed him over to US authorities via a private plane.
Since then, intense fighting between heavily armed factions has become the new normal for civilians in Culiacán, a city that for years avoided the worst of Mexico’s violence largely because the Sinaloa Cartel maintained complete control.
Source: france24
