Tagged: drug gangs

6 bodies found hanging from bridges in Mexico tourism hotspot

(NEWSMAX) — Six bodies were found hanging from bridges Wednesday in Mexico’s Baja California, a region known for its pristine beaches and popular with foreign tourists, authorities said.

Grisly killings were once rare in the country’s tourism hotspots but have risen in recent years as organized crime has grown.

The bodies were discovered along highways leading to international airports in La Paz, San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, nicknamed the Los Cabos area.

It is a massive international Pacific resort area popular with Americans, Canadians and Europeans.

The bodies were spread across three bridges, two on each, the local prosecutor said. The victims have not yet been identified.

A total of 409 people were murdered in the area from January through October — more than double for all of 2016.

Drug gangs are fighting over routes on which they move drugs to the United States, as well as over turf on which they sell drugs to tourists from overseas.

More than 196,000 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006 when the federal government launched a controversial military-led antidrug offensive.

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At least 4 people shot, killed in Mexican resort of Acapulco

(MY SAN ANTONIO) — At least four people have been shot and killed in the Pacific resort of Acapulco, which has become a hotspot in Mexico’s rising drug violence.

An Associated Press journalist saw the four bodies, including a man who lay on a central avenue in Acapulco in broad daylight Sunday with a pink towel over his face. Pedestrians watched from a footbridge as police secured the scene.

The deaths came as Mexico’s violence reached new heights with 2,234 murders in June, the country’s deadliest month in at least 20 years, according to government data.

For the first six months of 2017, authorities nationwide recorded 12,155 homicide investigations, or 31 percent more than the 9,300 during the same period last year.

The once-glamorous resort of Acapulco has struggled with surging violence.

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74 killed in weeks-long cartel war near Texas border

(BREITBART) — REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — The raging cartel war for control of this city resulted in at least 74 officially-counted murders. Many more victims have been incinerated just south of the Texas border.

In early May, Breitbart Texas began reporting on rival factions of the Gulf Cartel fighting for control of this border city. The continuing conflicts resulted in convoys of cartel gunmen roaming the streets looking for their rivals.

Overnight, cartel gunmen dumped a bloodied corpse with a posterboard where one cartel factions threatened their rivals. Bodies with warnings had not been seen previously in Reynosa. However, they are commonplace in Ciudad Victoria and in the border state of Nuevo Leon where Breitbart Texas has been reporting Los Zetas and other cartels are also carrying out massacres.

The violence spiked in early May, shortly after Mexican authorities killed former Gulf Cartel boss Juan Manuel “Toro” Loiza Salinas in late April. His death led to a power vacuum where his former allies are trying to fight off the another faction that appears to be favored by other cartel leaders. The ongoing fighting has led to a spike in highway robberies, armed robberies, kidnappings, and extortions as cartel commanders continue to look for ways to fund their ongoing war.

The raging violence by the Gulf Cartel immediately south of the Texas border led to the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) issuing an alert to agents that they represent regarding the cartel war just south of the border, Breitbart Texas reported.

The NBPC warned federal agents about the constant gun battles and the possibility of spillover violence or stray rounds fired in Mexico landing in Texas.

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/06/24/graphic-74-killed-weeks-long-cartel-war-near-texas-border/

36 killed in month-long cartel war near Texas

(BREITBART) — REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Raging violence continues to take hold of this border city as rival factions of the Gulf Cartel fight for control claimed 36 deaths–including a bystander and one police officer.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the violence began in late April, shortly after Mexican authorities hunted down and killed regional Gulf boss Juan Manuel “Toro” Loiza Salinas. The death of the ruthless cartel kingpin led to an immediate power vacuum as various factions fight for control of the city and surrounding smuggling routes.

The fight has led to convoys of gunmen driving around Reynosa hunting for rivals. Some of the shooters ride in vehicles with “M-42” spray-painted on the side, indicating former allegiance to Toro. As Breitbart Texas reported, the violence has also led to a spike in crime as cartel gunmen carry out daytime robberies at various establishments and against unsuspecting motorists.

Over the weekend, rival gunmen clashed three separate times, spreading fear among local residents. In one of the clashes, forces exchanged gunfire in the Lopez Portillo neighborhood where neighbors reported that four gunmen died in the clash.

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