Hanged and beheaded by drug cartels in Mexico: bloody scenes now reach Chiapas

Bodies hanging from bridges and beheaded: the terrifying scenes of the bloodiest times of the war against Drug trafficking in Mexico They arrived on Monday in the southern state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, one of the regions of the country where violent battle for control of the territory between the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.

The State Attorney’s Office first reported the location of a man’s dismembered body hanging from a bridge near Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas, a scene that became common years ago in places like Tamaulipas, in the northeastern corner of the country, and more. recently in states such as Michoacán (west), Guerrero (south) or Zacatecas (north-central), but which It was very unusual in Chiapas.

In the afternoon, the same department reported the discovery of “human remains” of four people in a service station in the municipality of La Concordia, in the center of the state.

Although no further details were provided in the statement, a state attorney’s office agent who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about an ongoing investigation told the AP that the remains were four human heads found inside inside a cold room.

In the same municipality, a clash at the end of December between criminal groups, Army and state police agents resulted in the death of three civilians and the wounding of an officer near the ranch of Mexican singer Julión Álvarez (Julio César Álvarez Montelongo) .

At two events on Monday, threatening messages appeared between the two groups that dispute the trafficking routes of migrants, weapons and drugs from Central America to the United States.

These organizations have multiplied the level of violence in the region in recent months murders, kidnappings, disappearances and the forced displacement of many people.

Fewer murders

While bloody images remain frequent across Mexico, official data shows a slight decrease in the number of violent deaths over the past year.

Intentional homicides in the country decreased by 4.18% in 2023 and amounted to 29,675, which represents the third consecutive year of decline after the most violent years in its history, the Secretariat for Security and Protection of Citizens revealed on Tuesday ( SSPC).

The 2023 homicides are compared to the 30,968 homicides reported by the SSPC a year ago for 2022, making this It is the first time in Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term that the figure has fallen below 30,000started on December 1, 2018.

This was reported by the SSPC 81 daily murders in 2023 compared to the average of 91 detected by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) for 2022, said the Secretary for Citizen Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, in the Government’s morning conference.

In December alone, the government recorded 2,315 homicides, a year-over-year decline of 8.46% from 2,529 in the final month of 2022.

The head of the SSPC also said this Six states accounted for nearly half of the homicides: Guanajuato, State of Mexico, Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco and Michoacán, which together accumulated 13,091 homicides in 2023.

Rodríguez, while not specifying the total for the year, clarified it In December there were 62 feminicides, a year-on-year decline of 19.48%.

Crimes that have increased and those that have decreased

The Secretary of Security acknowledged the annual increase in federal firearms and explosives crimes. But he has noticed a decline in human trafficking, financial crimes, organized crime and crimes committed by public employees.

“We present the criminal incidence of federal jurisdiction, with a (total) reduction of 34.2% (since the beginning of government), in most crimes of federal jurisdiction there are significant reductions,” Rodríguez said.

The SSPC found annual reductions in all categories: 11.9% in private transport robberies, 10.9% in assaults on passersby, 9.8% in residential burglaries, 9.7% in private transport robberies ​​public and 8% in corporate thefts.

These figures are reported after a 7.1% drop in homicides in 2022, when Mexico recorded 30,968 homicides after the two most violent years in its historyunder López Obrador’s mandate, with 34,690 homicide victims in 2019 and 34,554 in 2020, followed by 33,308 in 2021, according to data then reported by the SSPC.

Source: EFE