Headless Bodies Found in Mexican “Narco Grave”
Posted: Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Juarez, Mexico—Three decapitated bodies, found in a shallow grave near Juarez, Mexico, are most likely the victims of a drug cartel, says a spokesperson for the Mexican military. Ten men associated with the Sinaloa cartel are facing charges of homicide after being arrested near the United States border.
The victims, who were found in the type of shallow grave known as a “narco grave,” are reported to have been killed because they are tied to the Juarez cartel, a rival group. The two cartels have long been engaged in a violent turf war, which has recently been escalated by associated street gangs. Investigators determined that the decapitated bodies belonged to affiliates of the Juarez cartel, also known as “La Linea,” after speaking to residents in the area and hearing testimony from one of the suspects.
That suspect also said that he had worked as a a lookout in San Isidro for the cartel, receiving up to 10,000 pesos a week, or approximately $772.
Over 200 hundred drug-related killings have been recorded in Juarez this year. Over the weekend, 16 people, including 10 teenagers who had no known criminal ties, were slain in less than 24 hours. The violence began on Friday, when a group of cartel members opened fire on a truck, killing a man and a woman and injuring an infant. Later a woman was killed inside an ice cream parlor; a pregnant woman was shot; two people were killed after fleeing; nearly a dozen other people were killed in a half-dozen locations around the city; and two decapitated bodies were found wrapped in blankets, the heads nearby.
There does not appear to be a connection between the weekend shootings and the recent arrest of the 10 men.
According to Enrique Torres, a military spokesperson for the state of Chihuahua, troops received a tip and were deployed to a rural area near the border with the United States, where they found the three decapitated bodies.
It is not known whether the bodies’ heads were also found.
“In their possession we also confiscated seven firearms—six large and one small—19 magazine clips, three vehicles and 2,000 rounds of ammunition,” added Torres.
Similar events have been occurring in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, where officials on Friday found six decapitated bodies.
More than 15,000 people have been killed due to drug cartel violence in the past three years in Mexico.
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