Mexican authorities said Sunday they had found the bodies of five decapitated men on a road in the western state of Jalisco, the latest gruesome discovery in the violence-wracked country.
The bodies were found in black plastic bags in the municipality of Ojuelos, northeastern Jalisco, the prosecutor’s office said.
“A report was received indicating that there were several bags resembling human silhouettes lying on the asphalt strip of the road …,” the report said.
Upon arrival at the site, National Guard members found the decapitated bodies of five men, wearing only pants.
Nearby, they found another bag containing what appeared to be the victims’ heads, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that forensic scientists were combing the area for evidence.
The municipality of Ojuelos borders the town of Lagos de Moreno, which has been the scene of several gruesome murders attributed to organized crime.
One of the most infamous cases involved the disappearance of five young people on August 11, 2023, whose torture and murder were committed. later revealed in a video posted on social media.
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The violence in Jalisco is mainly attributed to the Jalisco Nueva Generacion Mapl (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent criminal groups. The Jalisco Cartel is better known for producing millions of doses of deadly fentanyl and smuggling it into the United States disguised as Xanax, Percocet or oxycodone. Such pills cause approx 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.
The US government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Jalisco Cartel leader Ruben Oseguera Cervantes. better known as “El Mencho.”
According to official figures, 1,415 people were killed in Jalisco state between January and September this year.
More than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing across Mexico in a spiral of violence since the government deployed the military to combat drug trafficking in 2006.
Last week, the mayor of the city of Chilpancingo in Guerrero state, Alejandro Arcos, was found beheaded less than a week after taking office. Local media reported that his head was on the hood of a pickup truck.
A day later, officials said four other mayors in Mexico had asked federal authorities for protection.
Earlier this month, 12 bodies – all with signs of torture and left with messages from cartels – were found in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.
Mexico’s first female president Claudia Sheinbaumwho took office on October 1, faces a major challenge in tackling cartel violence.
She has vowed to stick to her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs, not bullets” strategy of using social policies to tackle crime at its roots.
“The war on drugs will not return,” the left-wing president said at a news conference this week, referring to the US-backed offensive launched in 2006.
