13 Bodies Hung from Overpass in Mexican State Plagued by Cartel Violence

Cartel gunmen hung the bodies of 13 men from two separate highway overpasses in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. The gory executions come as the state is seeing a record-setting number of murders as rival cartels fight for control of a series of highways that connect border states with the rest of Mexico.

The discoveries took place this week in  Zacatecas beginning on Monday in the town of Fresnillo. Gunmen hung three bodies from a bridge. The second case took place on Thursday in the town of Cuauhtémoc, where gunmen hung ten bodies. According to Mexico’s Proceso Magazine, in the second case, only 9 bodies were hung, while the 10^th was only thrown on the side of the road.

Esta mañana autoridades de #Zacatecas confirman el hallazgo de 10 cuerpos en #CiudadCuautemoc en la carretera federal 45, colgados en un puente que conduce hacia el municipio de #LuisMoya. Elementos de la @FiscaliaZac realizan las investigaciones y trabajos de campo en la zona. pic.twitter.com/elMXLw5iQ7

— Halcon (@HalconOnce) November 18, 2021

In the aftermath of the second mass killing, the State of Zacatecas released a brief statement only acknowledging “an atrocious act” and revealing that all 10 victims were males of various ages. On that day, Zacatecas reported 20 murders in a 24-hour period, including the 10 victims from the overpass. So far in November, the state has seen 126 murders,  El Sol de Mexico reported.  So far in 2021, Zacatecas has had 35 police officers killed in shootouts and from cartel attacks.

Most of the violence in Zacatecas is linked to two main turf wars with the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco New Generation and a second turf war between factions of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas waging the second one over control of various highways in the state.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.