Fresh violence in northwestern Mexico leaves 23 dead

Fresh violence in northwestern Mexico leaves 23 dead

2011-11-24 07:54:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

CULIACAN, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- A day of violence left at least 23 people killed in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa on Wednesday, officials said. Most of the victims were found burned inside pickup trucks.

The state attorney general's office confirmed a total of twelve bodies were found completely burned inside a pickup truck parked in the Antonio Rosales neighborhood of Culiacán, the capital and largest city of Sinaloa. Neighbors had called police after seeing the truck on fire, which led to the discovery of the bodies in the back of the truck under wooden boxes.

Sinaloa Attorney General Marco Antonio Higuera Gómez said another burning pickup truck was reported a short time later. Police found four bodies inside the vehicle, including one which had been decapitated.

Officials believe that some of the victims could be part of a group of nine people who were kidnapped in the town of Angostura on Monday. The bodies recovered from the two vehicles were taken to the Forensic Medical Service where they will be identified.

In a third and fourth incident, four people were murdered in the town of Los Pericos in northern Sinaloa while three bodies were discovered in the town of Guamuchil. Police are still investigating if all or some of the attacks are related.

The state of Sinaloa is home to one of the country's most powerful drug cartels, the Sinaloa cartel which is headed by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as 'El Chapo'.

On Tuesday, Mexican authorities said army troops seized more than $15 million in cash believed to belong 'El Chapo.' Soldiers found the money on Friday when they carried out a surprise search of a car in the Cumbres de Juárez neighborhood of Tijuana. According to authorities, the $15.3 million in cash was going to be delivered to a center of operations of the Sinaloa cartel.

According to government figures, a total of 15,273 drug-related crimes were reported to authorities in Mexico in 2010, while more than 30,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderón began his campaign to fight organized crime in December 2006.

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