Clashing Mexican Drug Cartels Leave 2 Police and 7 Others Dead in Mexico
Two police officers believed to be abducted by one of the Mexican drug cartels were killed and their bodies were found hanging from an overpass in the state capital of Zacatecas in Mexico.
Northern Mexico officials said that seven more people were massacred by gunfire and their bodies were also found in the state of Zacatecas.
According to Associated Press, the Zacatecas state's public safety department said the policemen's bodies were found Wednesday morning.
The bodies were identified as the police force of the neighboring state of San Luis Potosi. They had been reported missing hours earlier.
Mexican drug cartels have reportedly hung the bodies of the victims from overpasses before as a message to rivals or authorities. However, the drug cartels seldom do the act with members of law enforcement agents.
Police later found bullet-ridden bodies of four women and three men in the nearby city of Fresnillo. A man and a woman were found wounded at the scene of the attack. They were with five children who had not been wounded.
The reported killing in Zacatecas state came after prosecutors in Mexico's most violent state, Guanajuato, reported that seven men were shot to death at a mechanic's shop.
Guanajuato has been the scene of turf battles between Mexican drug cartels, particularly the Jalisco cartel and local gangs backed by the Sinaloa cartel.
San Luis Potosí Interior Minister Jorge Daniel Hernández Delgadillo noted that Fresnillo, particularly near the border with Zacatecas city, had seen a struggle for the control of the narcotics trade, Mexican News Daily reported.
Sen. Ricardo Monreal has urged Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez to strengthen law enforcement. Monreal said that for years, insecurity has been experienced in the state of Zacatecas, citing the recent events as proof of that sentiment.
The senator from Fresnillo added that he will be discussing the matter with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Zacatecas Governor Alejandro Tello asked the federal government in February for support, saying that the Mexican drug cartels overpowered security forces in manpower and weapons.
Statistics agency Inegi noted that 95 percent of residents in Fresnillo consider the municipality to be unsafe, marking the highest portion in the country. The agency published the survey last April.
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Mexican Drug Cartels
The Zacatecas state has been the scene of fights between several Mexican drug cartels. It was once dominated by the old Zetas cartel.
Meanwhile, Guanajuato has Mexico's highest number of homicides being the area of turf battles between the Jalisco cartel and gangs supported by the Sinaloa cartel.
The fight for control of Guanajuato had persisted despite escalated efforts by police and the National Guard to contain the fighting.
The Jalisco Cartel
The Jalisco cartel has responded to Mexico's policy on fighting drugs. The cartel had kidnapped several members of an elite police force in the state.
The Jalisco cartel members had tortured members to obtain names and addresses of fellow officers, according to another AP News report.
They are now hunting down and killing police at their homes during their day-offs and killing them in front of their families.
The Jalisco cartel had declared a war on the government, with a goal to eliminate an elite state force known as the Tactical Group. They said that the elite force had been treating its members unfairly.
The Jalisco cartel had hung a banner saying that they are going to kill two members of Tacticals for each member of their cartel that they arrest.
READ MORE: Jalisco Cartel Boss El Mencho's Daughter, La Negra, Asks U.S. Judge to Free Her
WATCH: Inside Mexico's Warring Cartels and the Millions of People They've Displaced - From Vice News
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