Sixteen bodies found in violence-prone Mexican state
The bodies of 16 people were found in two different cities in Mexico’s Zacatecas state on Saturday amid a turf war between two powerful drug cartels.
Local authorities said 10 of the bodies were discovered in Fresnillo, while the other six were found in General Panfilo Natera, 110km (70 miles) to the southeast.
State prosecutors said both crime scenes were being processed.
Violence has spiked in recent years in Zacatecas with experts citing a battle for territory between the Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation cartels for control of lucrative drug-smuggling routes to the United States.
Late last year, grim incidents multiplied in the northern state with bodies found hanging in public places. In response, the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent in security reinforcements.
On January 6, 10 bodies were found in a sports utility vehicle in the main square in the city of Zacatecas.
In June, the bullet-ridden bodies of 18 men were found in Valparaiso in Zacatecas state, in what authorities said appeared to be the aftermath of a gun battle between the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels.
At least 948 people were killed by violence in Zacatecas in the first 10 months of 2021, according to official data, 342 more than in the same period a year earlier. Read More…