24 killed in Mexico violence

Mexico City, Jan 9 (IANS/EFE) At least 24 people were killed, 15 of them found decapitated, in the southern Mexican resort city of Acapulco, officials said.

On Saturday morning, 15 decapitated men were found outside a shopping centre along with two threatening messages that authorities did not make public.

Unofficial versions, however, indicated they were signed by the powerful Sinaloa cartel and warned that anyone who tried to intrude upon the gang’s smuggling corridor would suffer the same fate.

The public safety secretariat in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, said the victims were between 25 and 30 years old and all but one of the heads were left in one place.

The secretariat also announced that another body with several wounds was found in Acapulco’s La Cima neighbourhood.

Besides, eight people were found murdered in recent hours in Acapulco, a police spokesperson told EFE. All of the killings are attributed to organized crime elements.

Acapulco, a Pacific resort city and popular domestic tourist destination, has been the scene of vicious turf battles between various drug-trafficking organisations in Mexico.

More than 30,000 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon declared war on Mexico’s cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006.

That strategy, which has included enlisting the military in the drug war, has led to the elimination of several crime bosses and record seizures of cocaine but appears to have had no impact on the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico to the US.

–IANS/EFE