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Alejandro Acosta / Reuters
Forensic technicians handle bags containing human remains found in two abandoned vehicles near Guadalajara, Mexico, on Thursday.
MEXICO CITY -- Police found the decapitated and dismembered bodies of 18 people near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest atrocity by the country's most brutal drug cartel.
Thought to have been carried out by the Zetas gang, it was one of the biggest mass beheadings in the recent history of Mexico, where decapitations have become alarmingly common.
The bodies and heads were stuffed into two vehicles abandoned on the side of a highway in the small town of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, said Tomas Coronado, chief prosecutor for the state of Jalisco.
Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos is located 18 miles south of the center of Guadalajara on the road to Lake Chapala, a site popular with foreign tourists and U.S. retirees.
Money, drugs, guns and gangs: Child actors shame Mexico
Some of the bodies had been refrigerated before they were dumped, Coronado said.
A policeman at the scene in Ixtlahuacan said some victims had been so badly mutilated that officers could not determine whether they were male or female.
Steve McCraw, the Texas Director of Public Safety, says that there is a significant criminal threat from Mexico drug cartels that are smuggling drugs throughout his state and the nation.
The officer said a note by the bodies was signed by the Zetas cartel, a criminal militia led by former Mexican soldiers and blamed for some of the worst atrocities in Mexico's drug war.
Cross-border methamphetamine trade booms amid Mexico's 'war on drugs'
"They are clearly messages between rival groups that are in conflict," Coronado told The Associated Press.
The AP reported that the vehicles, described as minivans, were towed to government offices to unload the bodies.
Guadalajara, known for its high-tech industry, mariachi bands and tequila, has been a strategic base for drug traffickers since the 1980s.
Violence has flared in the once-tranquil city as the Zetas moved in to challenge the smuggling turf of other gangs in western Mexico.
One killed every half hour in Mexico drug-related violence
Soldiers arrested a high-ranking member of the powerful Sinaloa cartel in the city in March, causing his supporters to block streets with 25 burning cars and trucks.
Mexico's drug war is also part of a drug culture with roots in music, movies and even religion.
Attacks between the Zetas and their rivals have flared up across Mexico since the beginning of the year.
On Friday, nine corpses were hanged from a bridge in the border city of Nuevo Laredo just hours before 14 bodies were dismembered and shoved into garbage bags and ice boxes.
Five days of intense battles in western Sinaloa state last week also left 34 dead, adding to the body count in Mexico's drug war, which has killed more than 50,000 people in the past five years.
Msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
OK, Joe no government insurance for you!
What is the going rate, in pesos, for kidnap victims who are returned: (a) alive; (b) not alive; (c) not at all?
One of the nice things about vacation is returning--alive.
Again...
This thing is the second time in less than a week; just several days ago, they hanged people and beheaded them.
Why do the drug lords have the power to kill people like that?
It is a civil war.
nice statue.....
The problem is far more complex than most Americans realize or even care to know. The growing drug cartels, violence and government corruption in Mexico are the result of widespread poverty and weakened families. NAFTA has made it virtually impossible for small farmers in Mexico to make a living. The produce we buy here in the US is mostly through the efforts of huge American corporations buying Mexican produce from huge companies there. Yet Mexicans buy more American produce than they can afford to grow for themselves. Ironically, much of that produce is harvested by illegal immigrants. The reform of US immigration laws would be a first step toward helping Mexican families support themselves legally and contribute much needed revenue to the US coffers. Although the vast majority of illegal immigrants would rather be able to stay home and support their families and raise thier children to have better values, their weak economy forces them to risk their lives by crossing deserts, paying ridiculous amounts of money to human traffickers who might just as easily kill them rather than deliver them across the border, then risking capture and deportation upon arrival, or if they succeed, living in fear every day of INS or abuse at the hands of their US employers.
I suggest to anyone commenting here to watch "The Other Side of Immigration". I also suggest to anyone who wants to make a difference to check out Kiva and spend 25 dollars to support a small business in Mexico. The money gets paid back and can be reinvested with another small business. Each of us can do something that makes a difference.
"The growing drug cartels, violence and government corruption in Mexico are the result of widespread poverty and weakened families."
Ya, OK, sure...that's what is causing it. Sounds good...
After defending this beautiful country (Mexico) so harshly earlier in the week with my rants about traveling in numbers, using common sense to be safe I have changed my mind. New information about these 18 bodies- and a total of 32 missing people in the Lake Chapala area where I enjoy much weekend time has surfaced. These were not Narcos that were kidnapped, not Cartel members killing Cartel members but innocent working class people. Kids on the lake taken at gunpoint after their shifts as waiters, construction workers taken off the main hi-way in front of a Walmart. This took place over a 3 week time frame. Not a single warning from police about these mysterious events. Nothing from the US consulate- nothing. I will not return to Lake Chapala, and we have put into motion a transfer from Mexico over the next few months. Yes people- I am listening, and thank you. here is the link to the story in English http://guadalajarareporter.com/news-mainmenu-82/lake-chapala-mainmenu-84/31031-lakeside-kidnap-victims-among-dead-in-may-9-massacre.html#.T61UG2nC3cc.facebook
find moonbeamracer's comment, "Mexico is as deadly as any war zone in the world ..... and all fueled by competition for drug money ..." DUH, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS, when you find out some NEW news let us know.
Calderon says the border is secure, then why is it that the drug cartels have freedom to operate across the border. This should show Washington how corrupt the Calderon regime is, on one hand he says one thing and taking money in the other hand. I do not understand the Obama administration and its dealing with Mexico. It cannot be business as usual, the Mexican people deserve better.
Calderon is on his way out, and has actually tried. The elections are coming up and the front runner is very tolerant on crime I hear.
One interesting thing is, if you read the mexican papers, that the mexican presidente continue to deny the truth, He blame the USA for his estupidity, there is no border control on the mexican side,the entire borer police force take bribes from anyone who want to cross guns or anything into mexico and he still blame the USA.
Beautyful country.... fu...up gobernment.
Register/monitor the user, Educate/rehab. without fear of arrest, Control/distribute the drugs through existing pharmacy system. We will NEVER stop drug use. Drug manufacturers are the largest profit makers in America. Dirty Cops, contract prisons, taxpayer funded 'task forces' don't want the killing to stop, or their paychecks. There are currently THOUSANDS of Heroin addicts on Methedone treatment under this system. The consequences are small compared to KILLING innocent children and destoying families. Money, Power, Corruption. We CAN stop the killing.
and guess what? the united states will not get involved....why? because there is no oil or natural resources involved to exploit....besides, all the drugs that come state side, funds black budget projects......its a shame really, and i pray for all those innocent people out there that are like myself simply trying to provide for their families!
Wakehead: you couldnt be more correct. but most of the time the people who join the cartels do so because it is made to be glamorous in mexican culture. google narco corrido singer and you can see that the men are wealthy. they come to the US to escape or join the cartels for protection.
What is so particularly sad to me is that the rich culture, beautiful cities, archeological sites, gorgeous beaches and exotic scenery in Mexico are no longer safe to visit. I've travelled extensively throughout Mexico and loved Guadalajara's "Zona Rosa", Teatro Dellagado (sp?) where I heard and saw symphonies and operas, the museum with Diego Rivera's massive works, visited Senor Sauza's private hacienda and bullring, visited friends at lake Chapala and shopped in Tlaquepaque's stunning artisan's market.
Those of you who think that Mexico is only Tijuana across from San Diego, Matamoros across from Brownsville or Ciudad Juárez across from El Paso are missing the most beautiful and culturally-rich areas of a fascinating country.
Hopefully, the drug cartels and the killing will stop so that those of us who once enjoyed all that Mexico offers can return once again. It is a beautiful country with so much to see and do. What a shame that crime and violence are now keeping most of us away.
I guess gringos like to get HIGH ! We are the ones fuelling this horror. Shame on us ! ( oh well, we make money selling the guns to them )
Why dothey have to mutilate the bodies so badly? The surviving family members can't even have a decent funeral for them. It's barbaric, and someone has to do something. As for the tourists that know where to go when in Mexico for vacation, help yourself. There are too many safe places in the world to visit. Why help increase the odds of being killed? I know a lot of Mexican poeple here in the states that won't go anywhere near Mexico and they have family and friends there, yet we have poeple here that want to test the waters! Go figure!
I was just there 2 weeks ago, 17 of us drove our cars to the beach in northern Mexico -- as we have been doing a few times a year for 20 years. I've never had or heard of any problems, and never met a people more friendly or helpful.
I have had car troubles there too, and thanks to a wonderful and uniquely Mexican volunteer group called the Green Angels, I have never been stranded on a desert highway for very long. They patrol Mexico's highways in trucks that carry jumper cables, coolant, motor oil and tools. They will help you change a flat tire, add coolant to your radiator or whatever they can do to try to get you going again. If you're really stuck, they will wait with you until the tow truck comes.
I think I would feel more at risk getting stranded on a lonely highway in the U.S. You probably think I'm nuts, but in all my years of traveling there, I have found nothing but kindness and a willingness to help out a stranger in need. I'm not sure I can say the same is so universally true about my fellow Americans. The real irony is that when I've had car trouble there (at least 4 or 5 times over the years), I have always tried to express my gratitude with cash and in EVERY case, I was refused...they didn't want my money.
I also know Americans who live there, and who shuttle back & forth by car to Arizona almost every week. None of them have ever had or seen any problems either.
Yes, there are gang wars in parts of Mexico, especially in Guadalajara and south of the Texas border. That is a very, very small percentage of all of Mexico. We too have violent gangs in some of the more dangerous parts of many of our cities here, but we know which parts of town to stay away from to avoid trouble. Mexico is no different.
Yous. Sad situation for a really nice people in Mexico. Let's all pray for quicker progress on the development of the anti-cocaine vaccine. Then we decriminalize marijuana. 90+% of problem solved. Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention the need for our federal government to finally do it's constitutional job, and take the securing of our borders more in earnest. A.
And we just let them in our country by the van full. Wonder how many Mexican terrorists are living in the U.S.?