12 Decapitated Bodies Found In Mexico

Authorities found the decapitated bodies of 12 men in the southern state of Guerrero on Sunday, and some of the victims have been identified as soldiers.

State Public Safety Secretary Juan Salinas Altes said nine bodies were found on a major boulevard in the state capital, Chilpancingo, just a few hundred yards from where the state governor participated in a traditional religious procession later in the day amid heavy security.

Mexico has been hit by a rising wave of drug-fueled violence, and officials estimate that more than 5,300 people have died in organized crime-related slayings so far in 2008.

Four main cartels are fighting for position in the U.S. drug trade, with an estimated $14 billion at stake, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

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Click here for Bill Whitaker's full report.
World Watch Blog: The War Next Door

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Mexican drug cartels have increasingly taken to chopping the heads off their victims, who include rival traffickers and lawmen. On Aug. 28, a dozen decapitated bodies were found outside Merida, the capital of Yucatan state.

Experts are still trying to identify the bodies found Sunday, but a still-undetermined number of them are soldiers, Salinas Altes said. An army base is located nearby.

The bodies were found spread along the length of the boulevard, and nearby a sign was found that read "for every one of mine that you kill, I will kill 10."

Nine heads, some gagged with tape, were found in a bag nearby.

Local prosecutors said three more decapitated bodies were found Sunday in a village on the outskirts of Chilpancingo.

Two other severed heads were found on the same boulevard in Chilpancingo on Dec. 7 alongside a sign reading: "Soldiers who are supposedly fighting crime, and they turn out to be kidnappers. This is going to happen to you."

Scores of police and soldiers have been killed since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the cartels in late 2006. While Mexican criminal gangs once appeared to avoid confrontations with the army, they now often openly attack soldiers.

In May 2007, gunmen linked to a drug gang killed five soldiers in an ambush in the neighboring state of Michoacan.

Also Sunday, federal police reported they had captured three suspected cartel hit men in the border city of Tijuana, across from San Diego, California. The suspects allegedly had six assault rifles and about 3,500 rounds of ammunition at the home where they were caught.

[tigerrram9]

The Mexican government is very corrupt and the money the U.S is giving them is probably is getting into the cartels hands. I say no more money for Mexico, it keeps fueling the fire that never stops burning. The only ones that can stop these drug wars is Mexico. They need to stop the corruption first and then deal with the cartels. The government is on the take and the cartel is paying for their bad habits.

[nor-one]

The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terrorists, or any of the other "wars" the government has going are all jokes! And the joke is on the taxpayer. The war on drugs is especialy funny, just in Mexico you are talking about $14,000,000,000.00. What do you do with that kind of profit? You don''t put it under your matress, you don''t insulate your walls with it year after year. Yet the government can''t find where it is? It''s like the WMD''s(the US knew he had them, they gave them to him), they know where it is and they need it in their economy and their campaign funds. NOBODY can hide that much annual income!

[grandesign]

The Mexican government is very corrupt and that money is probably making it into the hands of the cartels. Once the government officials get their hands on that money it''s goodbye accountability. Posted by tigerrram9 at 04:09 PM : Dec 22, 2008

That sounds like the situation now with the $700 Billion given to the American Financial institutions. It''s hard to say where the financial cartels and the government officials separate, it seems like they''re connected at the hip.

[ajaxtheleast]

12 Decapitated Bodies Found In Mexico

Well there''s 6 more people with a lower
I.Q than George Bush.

And 2 more with a lower moral standing

It''s a wash with honesty though.

[joule18]

Mexican drug traffic enters the U.S. daily and some of their military is helping them deliver then excape back into Mexico. Our border agents and military are being held back in protecting our borders.

Who can blame them when those who did try got put into jail?

[fjinnw]

Blame those who uses drugs.

[ginger20051]

I can not believe that people actually think that legalizing drugs will stop this kind of thing. Cigarettes and booze are legal yet both are still bootlegged. If drugs were legal the cartels would still fight for territory and sales, using the same methods they do now. It drugs were taxed then they''d sell untaxed drugs a little cheaper. They''d still smuggle them and they''d still kill to do it. The only difference would be that we''d have more local crime as the druggies tried to steal more from non-druggies to support their habit.

[strongmanjim]

Instead of sending millions of dollars to Mexico, I think we could get more for our money by sending our own troops there and let them get rid of the drug cartels. If the Mexican government cannot take care of its own problems, it may need help from those who can, and the United States of America can do just that!

[drputt45]

You see, you can get ahead in the drug business.

[tigerrram9]

I agree, we should stop giving Mexico millions of dollars to fight the drug wars. The Mexican government is very corrupt and that money is probably making it into the hands of the cartels. Once the government officials get their hands on that money it''s goodbye accountability. Most of the official are on the cartel''s payroll. Do you ever wonder why Mexico never seems to get big drug loads? They let them go North so it can be sold and they make money of the sale of drugs, a very corrupt government.