Cartel massacres in a western Mexican state continue amid fights for lucrative drug production and trafficking routes. In the most recent incident, seven dismembered bodies were found over the past weekend.
The gruesome discovery took place in downtown Hidalgo, Michoacan, where members of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) left seven bodies in the trunk of a taxicab. The victims all showed signs of torture and authorities believe they may have been dismembered alive.
On top of the bodies, CJNG members calling themselves “Group X” left a posterboard claiming the victims were part of the “Los Correas” criminal organization. That group is one of several smaller cartels and self-defense groups joined under the Carteles Unidos banner against the CJNG. Carteles Unidos is receiving help from the Sinaloa Cartel.
The massacre in Hidalgo comes days after another group of gunmen shot and killed 11 avocado farmworkers in Tangamandapio, Michoacan. The farmworkers had no ties to organized crime.
Michoacan has been the scene of a longstanding turf war between Carteles Unidos and CJNG. Mexico’s government has been unable to bring peace to the region.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and other areas to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Jose Luis Lara, a former leading member who helped start the Self-Defense Movement in Michoacán.