Nine bodies were left on a street in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas, which has been plagued by an ongoing battle between rival criminal organizations.
The bodies of nine men were abandoned next to each other in Morelos on Wednesday, while another nine bodies were found in the city of Fresnillo, according to CBS News.
The Attorney General’s Office of the State of Zacatecas did not reveal the identities of the 18 victims.
‘In the municipality of Morelos, Zacatecas, the report of the discovery of 9 lifeless bodies was attended to, which correspond to the male sex,’ the prosecutor’s office reported in a statement.
‘The corresponding investigation was immediately initiated and actions and procedures were implemented in a coordinated manner with the aim of finding those responsible for said homicides.’
Nine bodies were found Wednesday lying on a street in Morelos, a municipality in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas that has been plagued by a turf war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Surveillance video shows suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel abandoning four of the nine bodies that were scattered on two main avenues in Fresnillo, a city in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas.
The gruesome finds came a day after authorities discovered nine bodies on two main avenues in the town of Fresnillo, in Zacatecas, 47 kilometers north of Morelos.
Surveillance footage showed a group of men removing four bodies from a van and dumping them in the middle of the street before taking off.
The Sinaloa Cartel claimed responsibility for the murders, leaving messages next to the bodies.
Five of the victims were identified and handed over to their families, according to the Zacatecas state Prosecutor’s Office.
Mexican police guard the scene where five bodies were left wrapped in blankets and covered with duct tape in Fresnillo on Tuesday. Four other bodies were also dumped on another avenue in the city. Five of the nine victims were identified, according to the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Zacatecas
Mexican authorities direct traffic in Fresnillo, Zacatecas after finding bodies that had been abandoned on a road
The recent wave of violence, according to authorities, may be related to the arrest of 26 members of the Sinaloa Cartel over the weekend on Sunday.
At least one of the suspects was identified as a minor from North Carolina.
Despite the murders, Governor David Monreal declared himself satisfied with security in the state by announcing the deployment of 1,000 members of the National Guard and the Army in different parts of Zacatecas.
At least 203 murders have been recorded through the first quarter of 2024. The state reported 979 homicides last year, a decrease of 357 in 2022 and a drop of 642 in 2021.
‘We are doing well, we have already managed to advance Fresnillo in an important, transcendent way,’ said Monreal.
‘After almost two decades, three six-year terms, since 2005, when an increase in violence began and, until the arrival of our mandate, a downward reversal process began.’
