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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of 14 unidentified individuals were found dead in an abandoned vehicle in Ciudad Mante municipality in southern Tamaulipas state, according to Mexican news reports.
An article posted Thursday evening on the Milenio news daily website said that the victims had been butchered and stacked inside a vehicle. The find was made due to an anonymous citizen's complaint.
The total dead included 11 men and three women. A narcomanta or painted message was left as the scene, but its contents were not disclosed. Twitter accounts say the find was made on Calle Hidalgo, near the Ciudad Mante's mayor's office.
Tamaulipas state is in the grip of a macabre competition between Los Zetas, who maintain a river crossing into the US at Nuevo Laredo, and their rivals in the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels. The competition includes kidnapping individuals, butchering them and leaving the bodies for authorities to find along with a warning to rival groups.
The campaign has been ongoing and nearly a constant in Tamaulipas since last March with many of the victims having little if any connection with organized crime.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
© Copyright 2012 by Chris Covert
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