A dozen bodies were found Thursday in a vehicle parked in front of the headquarters of the regional government of the state of Zacatecas, in northern Mexico, territory disputed by two of the most powerful cartels in the country, according to the authorities.
“At 5:30 am (11:30 am GMT) this morning, I was told about a gray car (...) left here in front of the government palace with bodies apparently beaten, damaged,”
Governor David Monreal said on the networks social.
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There were a total of ten bodies in the vehicle, according to the daily La
Jornada
close to power.
Local media initially reported six bodies in the vehicle abandoned by a lone driver.
According to the authorities, the state of Zacatecas is a battleground between the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartels.
At the end of November, the President of the Republic Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador went there after the discovery of fifteen corpses, hanged in public in a few days.
The government had announced 460 soldiers to reinforce the 4000 already deployed in the area.
Zacatecas has been governed since September by the party of the Movement for National Regeneration (Morena) of the President of the Republic.
According to official figures, Mexico has recorded nearly 300,000 assassinations since 2006, when ex-President Felipe Calderon launched a military anti-drug operation.
The current head of state says he prefers the policy of "abrazos, no balazos" with drug traffickers ("hugs, not shootings"), but has maintained a deployment of military forces throughout the country.
The current government even has a new security body, the National Guard, created by decree of March 26, 2019 to fight organized crime.