Incident is latest in months of intense violence between rival drug cartel members.Twenty bodies, several of them decapitated, have been found on a highway bridge in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Mexican authorities say, as rival drug cartel factions fight one another in the area.
The Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office reported a grisly scene on Monday: Four headless corpses were found on a roadside, 16 bodies were discovered inside an abandoned vehicle near the state capital, Culiacan, and five human heads were found inside a bag.
Authorities said the bodies were left with a note, apparently from one of the cartel factions, although the note’s contents were not immediately disclosed.
Feliciano Castro, a Sinaloa government spokesperson, condemned the killings and said authorities need to examine their strategy for tackling organised crime due to the “magnitude” of the violence seen.
“Military and police forces are working together to re-establish total peace in Sinaloa,” Castro said. Members of the public in the state, however, said authorities have lost control.
Sinaloa has been gripped by months of violence fuelled by rival drug traffickers vying for control of routes used to produce and transport narcotics, including fentanyl, that are often destined for the United States.
The groups are split between members loyal to Sinaloa Cartel cofounders Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The violence peaked after the a …
