The dismembered and decapitated bodies of 18 people were found Wednesday in western Mexico. Authorities believe the gruesome crime is the work of the Zetas drug cartel and may have been retaliation against a rival drug gang. The Zetas cartel left a handwritten note at the scene, but authorities have not revealed its contents.
Jalisco state Attorney General Tomas Coronado Olmos said the bodies were found in two vehicles that were parked on a highway in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, a small town between Guadalajara and Chapala. Several of the bodies showed signs of having been refrigerated. Investigators are now trying to identify the remains.
Last week, four dismembered bodies were found in trash bags in a shallow canal in Boca del Rio, Veracruz state. Police identified the dead as crime reporters Guillermo Luna Varela, Gabriel Huge and Esteban Rodríguez Rodríguez; and Irasema Becerra, Varela’s girlfriend.
“By the characteristics of the crime, one presumes that organized crime was involved in the commission of these homicides," the attorney general's office said.
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