Mexico drug war: 17 bodies dumped in Jalisco state

July 31, 2016

By Allison Jackson

Mexican soldiers and federal police patrol the area where the bodies of 17 men were found next to a road in the central-west state of Jalisco, Mexico, on September 16.

The naked and mutilated bodies of 17 men were found dumped beside a highway in the central-west state of Jalisco on Sunday as Mexicans celebrated Independence Day, El Universal reported today.

The Associated Press said the bodies were stacked with chains around their necks on a property in the town of Tizapan el Alto near the border between Jalisco and Michoacan states, where drug cartels have been waging a violent turf war.

Forensic investigators have identified six of the bodies. All six men had criminal records and at least two were former members of the Mexican army, Milenio reported.

Jalisco state prosecutor Tomas Coronado Olmos said the men had been killed elsewhere and then dumped in the town.

"Our border regions with other states are vulnerable to this kind of action and the dumping of bodies," Coronado Olmos said.

Authorities have not said who they believe was responsible for the gruesome murders, but such discoveries are not uncommon in Mexico where gangs are battling for control of valuable drug trafficking routes and markets.

More than 50,000 people have been killed in drug related violence since late 2006 when the sitting President Felipe Calderon launched an aggressive offensive against the cartels.

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