A group of gunmen left a total of 16 bodies in two separate towns in a central Mexican state. Some bodies were hung and some were wrapped in blankets and dumped, the gory discovery is the latest in a long line of executions and mass killings that have plagued the region as two drug cartels fight for control.
The case took place on Saturday in the municipalities of Panfilo Natera and Fresnillo, Zacatecas, where an unknown group of gunmen left a total of 16 bodies, Zacatecas state government officials revealed in a statement.
In the first incident, authorities responded to a 911 call regarding ten bodies in Fresnillo that had been wrapped in blankets. The second took place inside a warehouse where authorities found six bodies hung from a rail.
In a video statement, Zacatecas Governor David Monreal claimed that the violence in his state is something that he inherited from previous administrations and that he has been working with federal authorities to curb it. Monreal claimed that preliminary information points to rival criminal organizations fighting each other.
The violence in Zacatecas comes at a time when the Sinaloa Cartel is clashing with Cartel Jalisco New Generation. As Breitbart Texas reported, in prior mass killings, gunmen have left dozens of bodies hanging from overpasses, and also left an SUV filled with bodies outside of Monreal’s gubernatorial palace.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Jose Luis Lara and “L.P. Contreras” from the Cartel Chronicles Project contributed to this report.