Mexico City: Mexican police have found nine bodies hanging from a road bridge alongside a drug cartel banner threatening rivals.

Seven more corpses were found hacked up and dumped by the road nearby in the western city of Uruapan, and just down the road were three more, making a total of 19.

The killing spree marked a return to the grisly massacres carried out by drug cartels at the height of Mexico's 2006-12 drug war, when piles of bodies were dumped on roadways as a message to authorities and rival gangs.

Two of the bodies hung by ropes from the overpass by their necks, half naked, were women, as was one of the dismembered bodies. </s> [BBC] Mexican police have found the bodies of nine people hanging from a bridge and seven more corpses hacked up and dumped on the road.

The massacre in the city of Uruapan in the western Michoacán state is thought to be gang-related, prosecutors say.

A banner hanging from the bridge reportedly bore the initials of one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels.

Criminals have previously hung the bodies of their murdered victims in public to intimidate rival gangs.

“There is a turf war between the [local] cells of different criminal groups,” state prosecutor Adrian López told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.

Mr López said the gangs, which he did not name, are “fighting for territorial control over the production, distribution and consumption of drugs”. </s> 19 bodies hung from bridge or hacked up in Mexico gang feud

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican police found nine bodies hanging from an overpass Thursday alongside a drug cartel banner threatening rivals, and seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. Just down the road were three more bodies, for a total of 19.

The killing spree in the western city of Uruapan marked a return to the grisly massacres carried out by drug cartels at the height of Mexico's 2006-2012 drug war, when piles of bodies were dumped on roadways as a message to authorities and rival gangs.

Two of the bodies hung by ropes from the overpass by their necks, half naked, were women, as was one of the dismembered bodies.

While the banner was not completely legible, it bore the initials of the notoriously violent Jalisco drug cartel, and mentioned the Viagras, a rival gang. "Be a patriot, kill a Viagra," the banner read in part.

Adrian Lopez, the attorney general for the western state of Michoacan, said the killings appeared to be part of a turf war.

"Certain criminal gangs are fighting over territory, to control activities related to drug production distribution and consumption," Lopez said. "Unfortunately, this conflict results in these kinds of acts that justifiably alarm the public."

For years, Mexican cartels had seemed loath to draw attention to themselves with mass public displays of bodies. Instead, the gangs went to great lengths to hide bodies, by creating clandestine burial pits or dissolving corpses in caustic chemicals.

But the Jalisco gang, which has gained a reputation for directly challenging authorities, appears to have returned to showy killings as a way to intimidate rivals.

In 2011, the then-smaller Jalisco cartel dumped 35 bodies on an expressway in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. In 2012, the Zetas drug cartel dumped 49 decapitated bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, and that same year they strung nine bodies from an overpass and left 14 severed heads near the city hall.

Meanwhile, in another part of Mexico, an angry crowd beat and hung five suspected kidnappers, leaving some of their bodies dangling from trees.

The suspects had been detained by about 180 villagers in the central state of Puebla. The state government said police and soldiers were sent to the area to try to stop the attack, but villagers from the hamlets of Tepexco and Cohuecan wouldn't let them. </s> A BLOODTHIRSTY Mexican cartel beheaded nine people and then dangled their naked bodies from a bridge in an ongoing war with a rival gang.

Shocked cops found the butchered bodies hanging from the overpass on Thursday alongside a massive banner threatening other drug gangs.

Seven more blood-covered corpses were also found hacked to pieces and dumped by the road nearby.

Just over a mile away three more were found - taking the number of victims killed in the brutal cartel killing spree to 19.

The murders, which happened in the state of Michoacan, marked a return to the grisly massacres carried out by drug cartels at the height of Mexico's 2006-2012 drug war.

Back then, piles of bodies were regualarly dumped on roadways as a message to authorities and rival gangs.

All the victims in the city of Uruapan attack are reported to have been shot dead.

Some were hanged with their hands bound, some with their trousers pulled down.

While the banner was not completely legible, it bore the initials of the notoriously violent Jalisco drug cartel, and mentioned the Viagras - a rival gang.

"Be a patriot, kill a Viagra," the banner read in part.

"This kind of public, theatrical violence, where you don't just kill, but you brag about killing, is meant to intimidate rivals and send a message to the authorities," said Mexico security analyst Alejandro Hope.

"This kind of cynical impunity has been increasing in Michoacan," he added.

In one particularly brazen attack in May, a convoy of trucks marked with the initials of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel - drove through the city of Zamora gunning down several cops.

Uruapan is where Mexico's drug war first erupted in 2006, when members of the now-diminished La Familia cartel rolled five severed heads onto the floor of a dance hall.

What followed were eight years of terror in Michoacan, until farmers rose up in an armed vigilante movement to drive La Familia and its successor cartel, the Caballero's Templarios, out of the state.

Late Thursday, authorities in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz reported that four dismembered male bodies had been found in 15 bags near the state's border with Puebla.

In 2011, the then-smaller Jalisco cartel dumped 35 bodies on an expressway in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

In 2012, the Zetas cartel left 49 decapitated bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, and later in the same year they strung nine bodies from an overpass and left 14 severed heads near the city hall. </s> MEXICO CITY – Mexican police found nine bodies hanging from an overpass Thursday alongside a drug cartel banner threatening rivals, and seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. Just down the road were three more bodies, for a total of 19.

The killing spree reported by prosecutors in the western state of Michoacan marked a return to the grisly massacres carried out by drug cartels at the height of Mexico’s 2006-2012 drug war, when piles of bodies were dumped on roadways as a message to authorities and rival gangs.

Two of the bodies hung by ropes from the overpass by their necks, half naked, were women, as was one of the dismembered bodies found in the city of Uruapan, Michoacan Attorney General Adrián López Solís said at a news conference.

The victims had been shot to death. Some were hung with their hands bound, some with their pants pulled down.

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While the banner was not completely legible, it bore the initials of the notoriously violent Jalisco drug cartel, and mentioned the Viagras, a rival gang. “Be a patriot, kill a Viagra,” the banner read in part.

“This kind of public, theatrical violence, where you don’t just kill, but you brag about killing, is meant to intimidate rivals and send a message to the authorities,” said Mexico security analyst Alejandro Hope.

“This kind of cynical impunity has been increasing in Michoacan,” Hope added.

In one particularly brazen attack in May, a convoy of pickups and SUVs openly marked with the letters “CJNG” – the Spanish initials of The Jalisco New Generation Cartel – drove through the city of Zamora, Michoacan, at night, shooting up police vehicles and killing or wounding several officers.

The state attorney general said the killings discovered Thursday appeared to be part of a turf war.

“Certain criminal gangs are fighting over territory, to control activities related to drug production distribution and consumption,” López Solís said. “Unfortunately, this conflict results in these kinds of acts that justifiably alarm the public.”

For years, Mexican cartels had seemed loath to draw attention to themselves with mass public displays of bodies. Instead, the gangs went to great lengths to hide bodies, by creating clandestine burial pits or dissolving corpses in caustic chemicals.

But the Jalisco gang, which has gained a reputation for directly challenging authorities, appears to have returned to showy killings as a way to intimidate rivals.

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In 2011, the then-smaller Jalisco cartel dumped 35 bodies on an expressway in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. In 2012, the Zetas drug cartel dumped 49 decapitated bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, and that same year they strung nine bodies from an overpass and left 14 severed heads near the city hall.

Meanwhile, in another part of Mexico, an angry crowd beat and hung five suspected kidnappers, leaving some of their bodies dangling from trees.

The suspects had been detained by about 180 villagers in the central state of Puebla. The state government said police and soldiers were sent to the area to try to stop the attack, but villagers from the hamlets of Tepexco and Cohuecan wouldn’t let them.

When homicides dropped for a few years between 2012 and 2015, many thought Mexico’s drug war was winding down.

But homicides surged again last year and Mexico now has more murders than it did during the peak year of killings in 2011.

In the first half of 2019, Mexico set a record for homicides, with 17,608, up 5.3% compared to the same period of 2018. The country of almost 125 million now sees as many as 100 killings a day nationwide. </s> MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican police found nine bodies hanging from an overpass Thursday alongside a drug cartel banner threatening rivals, and seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. Just down the road were three more bodies, for a total of 19.

The killing spree reported by prosecutors in the western state of Michoacan marked a return to the grisly massacres carried out by drug cartels at the height of Mexico's 2006-2012 drug war, when piles of bodies were dumped on roadways as a message to authorities and rival gangs.

Two of the bodies hung by ropes from the overpass by their necks, half naked, and one of the dismembered bodies were women, Michoacan Attorney General Adrián López Solís said at a news conference.

The victims in the city of Uruapan had been shot to death. Some were hung with their hands bound, some with their pants pulled down.

While the banner was not completely legible, it bore the initials of the notoriously violent Jalisco drug cartel, and mentioned the Viagras, a rival gang. "Be a patriot, kill a Viagra," the banner read in part.

"This kind of public, theatrical violence, where you don't just kill, but you brag about killing, is meant to intimidate rivals and send a message to the authorities," said Mexico security analyst Alejandro Hope.

"This kind of cynical impunity has been increasing in Michoacan," Hope added.

In one particularly brazen attack in May, a convoy of pickups and SUVs openly marked with the letters "CJNG" - the Spanish initials of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel - drove through the Michoacan city of Zamora at night, shooting up police vehicles and killing or wounding several officers.

Uruapan is where Mexico's drug war first erupted in 2006, when members of the now-diminished La Familia cartel rolled five severed heads onto the floor of a dance hall.

What followed were eight years of terror in Michoacan, until farmers and ranchers rose up in an armed vigilante movement to drive La Familia and its successor cartel, the Caballero's Templarios, out of the state.

Hipólito Mora, one of the original founders of the vigilante movement, said the violence is worse than ever and he wants the army to come back to Michoacan to help battle the cartels. "We're worse off now than we were then," Mora said.

The state attorney general said the killings discovered Thursday appeared to be part of a turf war.

"Certain criminal gangs are fighting over territory, to control activities related to drug production distribution and consumption," López Solís said. "Unfortunately, this conflict results in these kinds of acts that justifiably alarm the public."

Meanwhile, in another part of Mexico, an angry crowd beat and hanged seven suspected kidnappers, leaving some of their bodies dangling from trees, the national Human Rights Commission said Thursday night. The Puebla state government said police and soldiers were sent to the area to try to stop the attack, but villagers from the hamlets of Tepexco and Cohuecan kept them from intervening.

Late Thursday, authorities in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz reported that four dismembered male bodies had been found in 15 bags left along highways near the state's border with Puebla. Veracruz is another battleground between the Jalisco cartel and other criminal groups.

For years, Mexican cartels had seemed loath to draw attention to themselves with mass public displays of bodies. Instead, the gangs went to great lengths to hide bodies, by creating clandestine burial pits or dissolving corpses in caustic chemicals.

But the Jalisco gang, which has gained a reputation for directly challenging authorities, appears to have returned to showy killings as a way to intimidate rivals.

In 2011, the then-smaller Jalisco cartel dumped 35 bodies on an expressway in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. In 2012, the Zetas cartel left 49 decapitated bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, and later in the same year they strung nine bodies from an overpass and left 14 severed heads near the city hall.

Still, homicides dropped for a few years between 2012 and 2015, and many thought Mexico's drug war was winding down. But homicides surged again last year and Mexico now has more murders than it did during the peak year of killings in 2011.

In the first half of 2019, Mexico set a record for homicides, with 17,608, up 5.3% compared to the same period of 2018. The country of almost 125 million people now sees as many as 100 killings a day nationwide. </s> Mexico woke up to a stark reminder of its war on drugs when authorities discovered 19 corpses, including nine bodies hanging from an overpass Thursday in the western state of Michoacán.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, considered the most powerful in Mexico, claimed responsibility for the brutal attack against members of the Viagras, suspending the bodies high above a highway stretch in the city of Uruapan.

Gruesome images showed the bodies of a male and female hanging in between a drug cartel banner threatening several members.

While the banner was not completely legible, it bore the initials of the notoriously violent Jalisco drug cartel, and mentioned the Viagras.

'Be a patriot, kill a Viagra,' the banner read in part.

The police were alerted by motorists approximately at 6am and found seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. Just down the road were three more bodies, for a total of 19.

The killing spree reported by prosecutors in Michoacán marked a return to the grisly massacres carried out by drug cartels at the height of Mexico's 2006-2012 drug war, when piles of bodies were dumped on roadways as a message to authorities and rival gangs.

Two of the bodies hung by ropes from the overpass by their necks, half naked, were women, as was one of the dismembered bodies found in the city of Uruapan, Michoacán Attorney General Adrián López Solís said at a news conference.

The victims had been shot to death. Some were hung with their hands bound, some with their pants pulled down.

'This kind of public, theatrical violence, where you don't just kill, but you brag about killing, is meant to intimidate rivals and send a message to the authorities,' said Mexico security analyst Alejandro Hope.

'This kind of cynical impunity has been increasing in Michoacán,' Hope added.

In one particularly brazen attack in May, a convoy of pickups and SUVs openly marked with the letters 'CJNG' - the Spanish initials of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel - drove through the city of Zamora, Michoacán, at night, shooting up police vehicles and killing or wounding several officers.

The state attorney general said the killings discovered Thursday appeared to be part of a turf war.

'Certain criminal gangs are fighting over territory, to control activities related to drug production distribution and consumption,' López Solís said. 'Unfortunately, this conflict results in these kinds of acts that justifiably alarm the public.'

For years, Mexican cartels had seemed loath to draw attention to themselves with mass public displays of bodies. Instead, the gangs went to great lengths to hide bodies, by creating clandestine burial pits or dissolving corpses in caustic chemicals.

But the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which has gained a reputation for directly challenging authorities, appears to have returned to showy killings as a way to intimidate rivals.

It is led by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes, a former ally of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán.

El Mencho is one of the 10 most-wanted men on the FBI's list and the U.S. Department of Justice is offering a $10million reward for his capture.

In 2011, the then-smaller Jalisco cartel dumped 35 bodies on an expressway in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. In 2012, the Zetas drug cartel dumped 49 decapitated bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, and that same year they strung nine bodies from an overpass and left 14 severed heads near the city hall.

Meanwhile, in another part of Mexico, an angry crowd beat and hung five suspected kidnappers, leaving some of their bodies dangling from trees.

The suspects had been detained by about 180 villagers in the central state of Puebla. The state government said police and soldiers were sent to the area to try to stop the attack, but villagers from the hamlets of Tepexco and Cohuecán wouldn't let them.

When homicides dropped for a few years between 2012 and 2015, many thought Mexico's drug war was winding down.

But homicides surged again last year and Mexico now has more murders than it did during the peak year of killings in 2011.

In the first half of 2019, Mexico set a record for homicides, with 17,608, up 5.3% compared to the same period of 2018. The country of almost 125 million now sees as many as 100 killings a day nationwide. </s> Mexico has been no stranger to grim scenes in recent years, but on Thursday its cartel wars hit a fresh low as numerous bodies were found hanging from an overpass in the southern state of Michoacan, and others were found chopped up on a road nearby.

In total, 19 bodies were found in the city of Uruapan — seven men and two women dangling from the bridge at 5.30 a.m.; six men and a woman left lying in various states of dismemberment on the street below; and more male bodies found in a separate neighbourhood.

Photos in Mexican outlets showed human heads, arms and legs scattered about, as if arranged in a display. The bodies hanging from the bridge were in various states of undress, some with their pants pulled down.

On the bridge was a banner, a warning from one cartel to the others, which read: “Lovely people, carry on with your routines,” the banner read in part. “Be a patriot, kill a Viagra.”

The message was reportedly placed by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, led by a drug-trafficking former policeman named Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho.” In Uruapan, El Mencho’s CJNG, which dominates the methamphetamine trade, is fighting a cartel known as Las Viagras and another called the Knights Templar.

Since a government war on cartels was launched in 2006, more than 200,000 lives have been lost in Mexico. With Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman sentenced to life in prison in the U.S., it is El Mencho, who was once allied with El Chapo but later turned against him, who now dominates. U.S. authorities have put a $10 million price on the ex-cop’s head.

“This kind of public, theatrical violence, where you don’t just kill, but you brag about killing, is meant to intimidate rivals and send a message to the authorities,” security expert Alejandro Hope told the Associated Press.

“There is a turf war between the (local) cells of different criminal groups. They are fighting for territorial control over the production, distribution and consumption of drugs,” Al Jazeera quoted the Michoacan attorney general Adrian Lopez as saying.

“That leads to this type of incident, which alarms the population, and rightfully so.
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Although the slaughter is being blamed by state officials on Michoacan’s drug trade, the region is also rich in avocados, a multi-million dollar industry that cartels use to enrich themselves via extortion of farmers and control of growing areas. Eight-in-ten avocados eaten in North America come from Michoacan. Sales to the U.S. hit $2.5 billion in 2018, El Pais reports.

“The big magnet here is avocados,” Falko Ernst, an analyst with the International Crisis Group told the Guardian. The outlet has previously reported that as many as four trucks carrying avocados are robbed in Michoacan per day. The crisis has become so bad in recent years that locals have set up armed self-defence groups to combat the violence — some of which have been themselves linked to the cartels.

The new president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, has sworn to tackle the escalating violence, yet 2019 could be Mexico’s bloodiest year yet. Al Jazeera reports that 14,603 murders were registered between January and June alone.

El Mencho’s latest act has evoked memories of one of Uruapan’s darkest episodes — the night in 2006 when 20 men stormed into a city bar and rolled five severed heads across the dance floor.

“He’s public enemy number one,” Paul Craine, who led the DEA in Mexico at the time of El Chapo’s arrest, told the Mirror of El Mencho earlier this year.

“And he’s got an army of thousands of bad guys.” </s> MEXICO CITY, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Suspected gang members shot down a helicopter in a clash with police in restive western Mexico on Tuesday, killing four people, the governor of the state of Michoacan said.

Silvano Aureoles said on Twitter that the operation took place near the violent city of Apatzingan, in Michoacan, and was aimed at detaining "leaders of criminal cells". It was not immediately clear which gang was responsible.

"During the operation, an official helicopter which was supporting the patrol in area of difficult access was shot down," he said. "We lament the death of the pilot, three police officers and a police officer who was injured."

Last year, members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which operates in Michoacan and in the neighboring state of Jalisco, shot down an army helicopter, killing six soldiers.

Michoacan has one of the highest murder rates in Mexico after being overrun with drug gangs and armed vigilante groups. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Adriana Barrera and Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Simon Gardner)
Jalisco New Generation Cartel massacres 19 people, hanging 9 of their desecrated bodies from a bridge in Uruapan.