Bodies of 11 murder victims found in Mexico state plagued by drug trafficking

The bodies of 11 murdered victims have been found in the troubled southern Mexican state of Guerrero, local prosecutors and media said Wednesday.

Prosecutors said the bodies were discovered Tuesday night in the municipality of Tecoanapa, while local media reported the killings took place during clashes between rival organized crime gangs.

Guerrero, located on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, is one of six out of 32 states that account for almost half of Mexico’s homicides, much of them linked to drug trafficking. Guerrero is among the regions in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence. Disputes between cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023.

In November, police  said they found 11 bodies, including two of minors, dumped by a highway in in Guerrero. The month before that, the mayor of the state capital Chilpancingo was beheaded just days after taking office. After the murder, four other mayors asked federal authorities for protection and a former prosecutor and local police official was arrested in connection with the death.

Violence in Guerrero reached such unprecedented levels that last year, Roman Catholic bishops announced they had helped arrange a truce in another part of the state between two warring drug cartels.

Guerrero is also home to popular beach resorts like Acapulco and Zihuatanejo. Last May, 10 bodies were found scattered around Acapulco, which has been engulfed by violence linked to cartels.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.