On Sunday, the unsettling discovery of five decapitated bodies was made along a highway in Jalisco, Mexico, highlighting the ongoing violence tied to drug cartels.
The Jalisco attorney general’s office confirmed that local authorities were alerted by Mexico’s National Guard about the gruesome find on Federal Highway 80 in Ojuelos, a town near the Zacatecas border.
The alarming circumstances surrounding this crime indicate cartel involvement. In response, authorities pledged to pursue justice for the horrific act.
According to a statement from the attorney general’s office dated October 13, “Several security personnel corroborated the find of five bodies, apparently all males, with their pants down and wrapped in plastic bags.”
Authorities also discovered another bag believed to contain the victims’ heads, although their ages have not been confirmed.
An agent from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, in conjunction with Investigative Police, has initiated an investigation to uncover the facts and apprehend those responsible. Experts from the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (IJCF) are processing the crime scene, and the bodies have been transferred for autopsies.
This brutal incident occurred shortly after Jalisco’s governor Enrique Alfaro reported that a gang had blocked a highway and torched vehicles to hinder reinforcements after the arrest of two of their members by the National Guard.
Statistics reveal that from January to September, 1,415 homicides occurred in Jalisco, fuelling concerns over rising gang violence.
The region is under the influence of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, notorious for extreme violence including cannibalism within their ranks to train new members, and using military-grade weapons like drones and rocket-propelled grenades in targeted attacks.
Led by “El Mencho,” one of Mexico’s most wanted criminals, the cartel traffics cocaine and methamphetamine. The U.S. government is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture, while Mexico has offered 30 million pesos (around $1.55 million).
Mexico experiences over 30,000 homicides annually, contributing to one of the highest murder rates globally.
In another grim incident, just six days into his tenure, the newly appointed mayor of Chilpancingo, Alejandro Arcos, was assassinated on October 6, receiving threats almost immediately after taking office. His severed head was found on the roof of a truck, with his body left inside, further underscoring the rampant violence in the region.