5 dismembered bodies found on a road in Mexico, heads found in a bag nearby

Mexican authorities said on Sunday they found the decapitated bodies of five men on a road in the western state of Jalisco, the latest death toll in the violence-torn country.

The bodies were found in black plastic bags in the municipality of Ojuelos, northeast of Jalisco, the state prosecutor’s office said.

“A report was found which shows that, on the asphalt line of the road (…) there were several bags that looked like pictures of people,” it said.

When he arrived at the place, members of the National Guard found the bodies of five men without heads, wearing only trousers.

Next to them, they found another bag containing what appeared to be the victims’ heads, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that forensic scientists were combing the area for evidence.

The municipality of Ojuelos borders the city of Lagos de Moreno, which has been the scene of a series of brutal killings suspected of organized crime.

One of the most notorious cases is the disappearance of five young people on August 11, 2023, who were tortured and killed. later revealed in the video social media posts.

The violence in Jalisco is widely blamed Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel (CJNG), one of the most powerful and violent criminal groups in Mexico. The Jalisco cartel is best known for producing millions of lethal doses of fentanyl and smuggling it into the United States disguised as Xanax, Percocet or oxycodone. Such pills cause about 70,000 people died from drug use per year in the United States.

The US government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Jalisco gang leader Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho.”

According to official statistics, 1,415 people were killed in the state of Jalisco between January and September of this year.

Across Mexico, more than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in the violence since the government sent in troops to fight drug trafficking in 2006.

Last week, the mayor of the city of Chilpancingo in the province of Guerrero, Alejandro Arcos, was found beheaded less than a week after taking office. Local media reported that his head was left on top of a pickup truck.

The other day, officials said four other mayors in Mexico questioned federal authorities for protection.

Earlier this month, 12 bodies – all with signs of abuse and messages left in the boxes – were found in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.

The first female president of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaumwho took office on October 1, is facing a major challenge in dealing with gang violence.

He is committed to sticking to his predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” plan to use social policy to fight crime from crime.

“The war on drugs will not return,” the leftist president told a press conference this week, referring to the US invasion launched in 2006.