Nine bodies were left in 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 left next to each other in Morelos on Wednesday, while another nine bodies were found in the town of Fresnillo, according to CBS News.
The Zacatecas Public Prosecutor’s Office has not released the identities of the eighteen victims.
“In the municipality of Morelos, Zacatecas, attention was paid to the report of the discovery of 9 lifeless bodies, corresponding to men,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
“A corresponding investigation was immediately initiated and actions and procedures were carried out in a coordinated manner with the aim of finding those responsible for the said murders.”
Nine bodies were found Wednesday dumped in 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.
Alleged members of the Sinaloa cartel were seen on surveillance video leaving four of nine bodies strewn across two main streets in Fresnillo, a city in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas.
The gruesome findings came a day after authorities discovered nine bodies on two main streets in the Zacatecas town of Fresnillo, 47 miles north of Morelos.
Surveillance footage showed a group of men removing four bodies from a pickup truck and dumping them in the middle of the street before leaving.
The Sinaloa Cartel claimed responsibility for the killings by leaving messages next to the corpses.
According to the Zacatecas Public Prosecutor’s Office, five of the victims have been identified and released to their families.
Mexican police officers guard the site where five bodies were left wrapped in blankets and covered with duct tape in Fresnillo on Tuesday. Another four bodies were also dumped on another avenue in the city. According to the Zacatecas Public Prosecutor’s Office, five of the nine victims have been identified
Mexican authorities regulate traffic in Fresnillo, Zacatecas after the discovery of bodies left on a road
The recent outbreak of violence may be linked to the arrest of 26 members of the Sinaloa cartel last Sunday, according to authorities.
At least one of the suspects was identified as a minor from North Carolina.
Despite the killings, Governor David Monreal said he was satisfied with security in the state, announcing the deployment of 1,000 National Guard and army troops to various points of Zacatecas.
At least 203 murders have been registered in the first quarter of 2024. The state reported 979 homicides last year, down from 357 in 2022 and down from 642 in 2021.
“We are doing well, we have already managed to move Fresnillo forward in an important, transcendent way,” Monreal said.
“After almost twenty years, three terms of six years, since 2005, when an increase in violence began and, until the arrival of our mandate, a downward reversal process began.”