There have been several episodes of drug war violence in Mexico in recent months, however, it seems that the episodes are escalating as with the most recent one, which took the lives of 49 people who had been brutally killed and left in a public place.

The bodies were found in the city of San Juan on a non-toll highway that connects Monterrey in northern Mexico to the U.S. border at around 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Of the bodies found, 43 of them were men and the rest were women.

Federal police officers immediately shut down the highway and according to Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza, speculation ensued that it was indeed an act connected to the ongoing drug war. He stated that organized crime groups often make very public body dumps with multiple victims as warnings to their rivals, however he did not want to rule out the possibility that the victims were U.S.-bound migrants, according to The Guardian.

What is leading citizens of the area and federal officers to believe that this was a drug related war, according to Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene, is that “a banner left at the site bore a message with the Zetas drug cartel taking responsibility for the massacre.” According to Domene, “the fact the bodies were found with the heads, hands and feet cut off will make identification difficult. The bodies were being taken to Monterrey for DNA tests.”

Attorney General De La Garza believes that the victims could have been killed up to two days ago and then transported to San Juan, however, there is no evidence to support this at this time.

According to the Associated Press, these are the most recent episodes of drug war violence in Mexico alone:

• May 9: Police find 18 dismembered bodies close to Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara.
• May 5: The bodies of 23 people are found hanging from a bridge or decapitated and dumped near city hall in the border city of Nuevo Laredo.
• April 17: Police find the mutilated bodies of 14 men in a minivan abandoned in downtown Nuevo Laredo, along with a message from an undisclosed drug gang.
• April 12: The tortured and bound bodies of seven men are dumped in the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas along with messages signed by allies of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
• March 18: Gunmen ambush and kill 12 police officers who had been sent to Guerrero state to search for the bodies of 10 people whose severed heads were found earlier.

The war is worsening between the Mexican drug cartels as they fight over who controls the local drug markets and smuggling routes into the United States, and unfortunately, innocent lives are being brutally lost as a result of three things, money, greed and power.

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About the author

Elizabeth Lowry
Elizabeth graduated from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University with her specialization in Broadcast News as well as a minor in business and psychology. She enjoys writing, reading and researching about humanitarian affairs, health & fitness, fashion and sports. In her free time she enjoys working out, traveling and exploring different cultures, trying new things and spending time with her Chocolate Lab.

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