Mutilated bodies of four students found in central Mexico

Mutilated bodies of four students found in central Mexico

CUERNAVACA, Mexico - 9th March 2012

Police found on Thursday the mutilated bodies of four teenagers Inside plastic bags dumped on a street in a residential area f Cuernavaca, a weekend retreat 84 kilometres (52 miles) south of Mexico City.

The state attorney’s office said a threatening message against an unnamed criminal group was found near the bodies of the male students, aged 13 to 17.

One of the boys had fled the family home a week and a half ago and was last seen riding scooters with other kids in the area where his body was found.

Cuernavaca, a city with balmy weather year round once known as a peaceful tourist hangout, saw violence rise after top drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva, one of the country’s most-wanted traffickers, was shot dead there in December 2009.

Clashes between gang members jumped as they tried to muscle in on Beltran Leyva’s territory.

In March of 2011, gunmen killed seven young men in Cuernavaca, including the son of little-known but award-winning poet Javier Sicilia. He has since led a national protest against the drug war, which has claimed more than 50,000 victims in just over five years.