Mexico probes murder of 8 people beheaded in country's west

Prosecutors in Mexico's western state of Michoacan are investigating the murder of eight people, whose decapitated bodies were found in the Aguililla municipality after suspected cartel warfare.

"Employees of the Forensics and Evidence Collection unit have found the lifeless bodies of eight men with gunshot wounds and injuries following a report of a possible crime in the Enramada area," the prosecutor general's office wrote on Twitter.

Photos from the scene, circulated on social networks, show that all the bodies were decapitated. The bodies were handed over to forensic experts for autopsy and further investigation, and a criminal case was opened.

According to media reports, the victims were members of the Carteles Unidos ("United Cartels") group, who engaged in an armed confrontation with members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

The wave of violence that has engulfed Mexico in recent years is largely linked to cartels' struggle for control over cocaine markets and drug trafficking to the United States. According to official data, the number of premeditated murders committed in Mexico last year totalled 28,925, up 276 from the 2019 all-time high. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )