In the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo, Mexico, the remains of 11 individuals, including two minors, were found in a deserted pickup truck along a highway. The case is currently being treated as a homicide investigation, with the victims identified as nine males and two females.
Local authorities discovered the bodies on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, following a report of an abandoned vehicle. Although some reports suggest the victims were dismembered and put into plastic bags, this information has yet to be officially confirmed by prosecutors.
One of the victims, 14-year-old Angel Barrera Millan, was last seen in a hostage video in October after he was kidnapped along with family members.
Separately, in the nearby tourist town of Acapulco, law enforcement officials found four more bodies in a car, all showing evidence of strangulation. This highway, where the 11 bodies were found, is the primary route connecting Mexico City and Acapulco.
The violence is attributed to an ongoing territorial conflict between two rival drug organizations, the Ardillos and the Tlacos, both vying for control over Chilpancingo’s drug trafficking and extortion operations. The battle escalated in 2023 when a gang staged a large demonstration, hijacked a government vehicle, blocked a highway, and took law enforcement officers hostage, demanding the release of arrested suspects. The incident marked a new level of audacity in the conflict.
The decapitation of Alejandro Arcos, Chilpancingo’s mayor, less than a week after he assumed office last month, underscores the rising violence in the region. In the run-up to the June 2 elections, at least six candidates for public office have been murdered in the state.
Guerrero, strategically located on the Pacific Coast, is a hotbed for organized crime. The state reported 1,890 murders last year. Criminal organizations such as the Jalisco Cartel New Generation, Guerreros Unidos, and Familia Michoacana are all competing for control in the area.
Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s newly sworn-in president, is distancing herself from her predecessor’s pacifist “hugs, not bullets” policy towards cartel violence. She recently launched a new security plan that emphasizes enhanced intelligence coordination between government agencies and fortifying the National Guard. The plan also incorporates social support schemes for young people to provide alternatives to involvement in organized crime.
Since Sheinbaum took office on October 1, Mexico has recorded 2,638 homicides nationwide. Since 2006, when the military was first deployed to fight drug trafficking, the country has witnessed more than 450,000 murders and tens of thousands of disappearances.
