Mexican killers dump 12 bodies next to school

by Betty McMahon    September 30, 2008

The scene in a Tijuana, Mexico empty lot on Monday, Sept. 29 was horrific  – 12 bloodied, bound tortured bodies, some partially clothed and some with their tongues cut out. But what made it even more appalling is that the lot is right next to an elementary school and the grisly discovery was made just before children were to arrive for classes.

Victims included 11 males and a female. Three who have been identified were teenagers:  Gustavo Morales Lara, 15; Israel Bernabe Millán Campos, 18; and Felipe Ramón Espinosa, 18.

A second group of four male bodies was also found early yesterday in a neighborhood off  the Via Rapida highway. Their heads were covered with plastic bags, and three had their feet and hands bound.

A note found with the 12 bodies suggests this is one more episode in the war among the drug cartels. The note read, “This is what will happen to all the blabbermouths that hang around with The Engineer,” an apparent reference to Fernando Sánchez Arellano, known as El Ingeniero, the head of the once-powerful Arellano Félix cartel.

This region was once dominated by the Arellano Félix drug cartel. But the arrest and detention of major cartel figures has left it weak and divided, prey to internal struggles and challenges by outside groups. The Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman cartel is aggressively pushing into the region.

The drug war has claimed 390 in Tijuana this year, surpassing last year's total of 337, according to the state Attorney General's Office. Because of Tijuana's location in relation to the U.S., it is considered an important region for the drug cartels to control.

In reaction to the continued violence, many of Tijuana's discos and shops have closed.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Rate It:

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5