Police mad a gruesome discovery today in Mexico as 49 headless bodies were found near the U.S. border.
The mutilated bodies of 43 men and six women were found in the town of San Juan. NPR reports that the town is at the center of a region which has been ripped apart by two drug cartels. Authorities said that the stone arch that typically welcomes visitors to San Juan, had “100% Zeta” (a reference to one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels) written over it in black letters.
Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said that the 49 bodies were missing heads, hands, arms, legs, and feet, in an apparent attempt to make it harder for authorities to identify the victims.
State Attorney General Adrian de la Garza said that the victims could have been killed in a different location a few days ago. De La Garza said it was also possible that the victims were U.S. bound immigrants, but said that it was more likely that the 49 headless bodies were the result of the feud raging between the Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The Attorney General’s office said that the cartels have committed “irrational acts of inhumane and inadmissible violence in their dispute” and is offering $2 million for information that would result in the arrest of Sinaloa leaders Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael Zambada, as well as Zetas leaders Heriberto Lazacano Lazcano and Miguel Trevino.
The Star Tribune notes that this isn’t the first time that a mass grave has been uncovered in Mexico. In the last month, 14 men were found mutilated in a van in downtown Nuevo Laredo, 23 people were hung, and 18 were dismembered in Guadalajara. All of these acts are believed to be related to the escalating violence between the cartels.
NPR notes that President Felipe Calderon has taken the offensive against the cartels since he took office in 2006. Since that time, more than 47,500 people have died at the hands of the cartels.