14 Dismembered Bodies Found in Mexico
Dismembered body parts of 14 individuals were discovered in a truck in a town in northern Mexico on Thursday.
The bodies of 11 men and 3 women were found in an abandoned truck parked in front of a city government office in the sugarcane farming town of El Mante in Mexico's Tamaulipas state. El Mante lies about 280 miles south of the Texas border and Tamaulipas is one of the country's most violent states.
A note – said to be for the leader of the Zetas drug cartel – was discovered along with the dismembered body parts, but the contents of the note have not been disclosed to the public.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The violence is being blamed on the Zetas and Sinola drug cartels, two of the most powerful gangs in Mexico.
The Sinaloa cartel is run by the infamous Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman who was labeled earlier this year as the "world's most powerful drug trafficker" by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Zetas, on the other hand, are considered to be the most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and dangerous cartel operating in Mexico.
The 14 dismembered bodies are the latest in a brutal drug-smuggling route turf war that has been waging in Mexico since 2006.
In early May, decapitated body parts of 18 individuals were discovered near Mexico's second largest city of Gudalajara. Only days later, one of the largest beheadings in recent Mexican history was discovered when the body parts of 49 people were found along a highway near the city of Monterrey.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched the country's war on drugs in 2006 shortly after he took office. Calderon sent troops to impacted regions to stem the cartel violence and protect civilians, but powerful drug gangs have continued to expand their turf wars and the war on drugs has managed to claim the lives of over 55,000 people.
