Bodies of torture victims found scattered in Mexican heritage city

Mexican authorities on Thursday located 21 bodies scattered along the streets of the Michoacán state capital Morelia, tagged with warning signs written by suspected drug traffickers.

The victims were all men between the ages of 20 and 40, and appeared to have been tortured before they were shot, said chief state prosecutor Jesús Montejano, who added it was the worst massacre that has ever occurred in the historic city.

Authorities found the first three bodies in the early evening near a soccer field in Atapaneo, a village on the outskirts of town. According to the Mexico City daily El Universal, the three were bound and gagged. "After 9pm we started getting calls telling us where we could find the others," Montejano told reporters.

"We have a whole team working on the case. We are looking for any indications that will allow us to find the perpetrators of these deplorable crimes," he added.

Cardboard signs were attached to all the bodies reading: "Because society demands it, here are the home burglars, kidnappers and rapists. More to follow." The notices were signed by the initials "T. A."

Michoacán is President Felipe Calderón's birthplace and one of the main focus points in his war against the cartels. He continues to struggle with soaring drug-related violence, which has rocked Mexico since he took office five years ago and declared war on the narco-traffickers. That helps to explain why the violent clashes between drug traffickers in Michoacán, which is controlled by La Familia cartel, are some of the most violent in the country.

"This was barbaric - nothing like this has ever occurred in this city," Montejano said.

Morelia has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and is a major tourist destination, mainly because of its historic and cultural attractions.

In Mexico, 95 percent of crimes committed go unsolved. Of the estimated 40,000 drug-related deaths since 2007, 9,000 victims have not been identified.

Police targeted

In Chihuahua over the weekend, authorities found the bodies of five family members. That included two children aged two and four, reportedly massacred in their home by hitmen working for the cartels. The ongoing violence and crime has led to many fed-up Mexicans taking the law into their own hands.

A riot broke out on Monday in the Mexico City suburb of San Lorenzo Acopilco when a group of residents tried to lynch two men and a woman they accused of kidnapping and extorting their victims. Police had to fend off an angry crowd trying to reach them by breaking the car windows with bricks. Six policemen were injured, according to El Universal.