Suspected drug gang killers dumped the mutilated bodies of more than 40 people on a highway near the northern city of Monterrey in one of the worst atrocities to hit Mexico in recent years.
The mutilated corpses were found stuffed into bags yesterday morning on a highway in the municipality of Cadereyta Jiménez, officials from the state of Nuevo León said.
There were more than 40 victims, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A police official said the death toll may have been as high as 49. It was not immediately clear who the victims were.
A forensic investigator at the scene said some of the bodies showed signs of decay, indicating that they may have been dead for days. It was the latest in a string of mass slayings that have convulsed Mexico over the past few months, many in the north of the country, where the brutal Zetas drug gang has waged a bloody war for control of smuggling routes.
President Felipe Calderon staked his reputation on bringing Mexico’s drug gangs to heel, sending in the army to fight them shortly after taking office in December 2006. Since then, however, the violence has spiralled. – (Reuters)