Nine bodies found in southwest Mexico
Authorities in Mexico have found nine bodies in the back of a pickup truck, as violence linked to drug trafficking and organized crime continues to plague the country.
The vehicle had been abandoned on the roadside of a highway between Chilpancingo City and the town of Tixtla, in the violent southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero, the state attorney general’s office said in a statement on Saturday.
The bodies, which were discovered on the same day near Tixtla, which is approximately 100 kilometers north of Acapulco, appeared to be those of the members of a group that had gone missing after being kidnapped on Thursday.
The truck was registered to one of the victims.
State prosecutors say the men lived in Tixtla and Chilpancingo and used the vehicle to sell possibly ill-gotten food products.
Violence linked to narcotics trafficking and organized crime is rampant in Mexico. Mexican drug cartels play a key role in the flow of narcotics from Latin America to the neighboring United States.
Last year, violent gangs abducted a large number of people and killed close to 30,000, registering Mexico’s deadliest year on record.
Critics say despite President Enrique Pena Nieto’s decade-long war on drugs, criminal gangs now wield huge influence among corrupt elements in Mexican police, judiciary, and government.
Media reports claim that in some regions of Mexico, law enforcement officers are hired by drug traffickers to protect and enforce their criminal interests.
In the US, drug cartels often employ Mexican-American gangsters to distribute narcotics.
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