PUEBLA, MEXICO – A gruesome discovery was made in the central Mexican city of Puebla late last week, as authorities revealed they found seven mutilated bodies, each accompanied by a hand-written message detailing the exact crime that supposedly justified their killings. Five of the victims were decapitated and another dismembered, stuffed in a stolen car abandoned in the middle of a major expressway.
The victims were accused of various offenses ranging from street-level drug dealing to truck robbery and extortion, according to Puebla’s chief prosecutor, Gilberto Higuera. While he did not directly link these heinous acts to drug cartels, the inclusion of the alleged confession letter on each victim suggests the involvement of such criminal organizations.
Higuera was cautious in the discussion of the evidence but insinuated that the killings likely involved a mix of gang rivalry and dominance assertion aimed toward both domination and recruitment.
This modus operandi aligns with the known approaches of several drug cartels operating in Mexico when attempting to claim territory, often resorting to mass killings and the public display of rivals, petty thieves, or drug pushers, thereby instilling fear and demonstrating their ruthless enforcement of rules under their reign.
This macabre incident is particularly notable as it occurred in Puebla, Mexico’s fifth largest city, typically known for its affluent demographics and relative insulation from the rampant drug cartel violence that blights many surrounding regions.
In fact, state data indicate that Puebla has only seen 200 murders within the first quarter of 2024. The stark visibility of the bodies left on the expressway only compounded the shock, with the car barricading a primary ring road and quickly drawing law enforcement’s attention.