BY JIM KOURI – The fourteen decapitated bodies that were discovered yesterday morning in the vacation city of Acapulco, Mexico, are clearly evidence of the continuing drug war being waged by the government and Mexican organized crime organizations.
The headless bodies were discovered during the early morning hours adjacent a shopping mall along with hand-written threats from one of Mexico’s most dangerous drug cartels, according to an American drug enforcement agent assigned to helping the Mexican government.
The messages found at the bloody crime scene were allegedly signed by Mexico’s Public Enemy Number One, Joaquin Guzman, a/k/a/ “Shortie,” the head of the Sinaloa cartel, a source told the Law Enforcement Examiner.
In addition, about a dozen bodies were found at several other crime scenes throughout the resort city on Saturday morning, according Reuters. The killers used machetes to beat and mutilate these latest victims of Mexican gang violence.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Sinaloa cartel is fighting for control of Acapulco, its seaport and roads that lead to the United States-Mexican border.
Recently, more than 140 convicts escaped from a prison in the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo allegedly with the help of poorly-paid and ill-trained prison guards.
The prison is located near the border with Laredo, Texas, and 141 inmates got out through a service entrance used by vehicles, “presumably with the assistance of the prison staff.” U.S. Border Patrol agents were alerted that many of the escaped convicts may attempt to enter the United States.
Mexican officials said the prison’s warden and other prison authorities are now under investigation in an attempt to prevent future escapes by dangerous criminals. A number of the escaped prisoners are tied to the drug cartels that have plagued northern Mexico.
The Mexican drug war is creating problems for the country’s tourist spots with fewer Americans daring to visit the war-torn cities and provinces.
According to U.S. law enforcement officials, drug-related violence is responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the increasingly powerful drug cartels.
While Mexican military and police personnel have arrested or killed some of the leaders is various gangs, and several gang leaders have been extradited to the United States, the Calderon administration is still struggling to curtail the rampant violence, some of which has occurred close to U.S. border towns and cities.
Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for Examiner.com and New Media Alliance (thenma.org).