Massacre of 10 men in Zacatecas stuns Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Mexican residents have become accustomed to regular recordings of such horrors as assassinations, kidnappings, “disappearances,” and the discovery of secret tombs, among other outrages.

Yet this month’s massacre of 10 people in Zacatecas state represented a stunning spasm of violence in a region famous for its mining industry, pink sandstone colonial churches and its critical role in the Mexican Revolution.

Last weekend, the bodies of 10 people, apparently victims of cartel executions, turned up at three sites statewide in north central Mexico.

Most dramatically, five of the bodies were hung from a highway bridge; Their half-naked corpses showed signs of torture; It was a horrific sight, reminiscent of the worst days of the Mexican drug wars. The other four victims were left near a public clinic; A fifth of them were dumped on the roadside.

The targeted killings and highly choreographed positioning of remains were clearly a warning against organized crime, which has formed a form of parallel government in many parts of Mexico despite official denials. The gangsters’ clear message: Cooperate with us or pay the ultimate price.

Authorities say all 10 victims were kidnapped in the days before the murders, but none of the abductions were reported to police until the bodies were found.

The victims appear to have been chosen with great care. Among them were a former rural mayor, a former police commander, a bar owner, a rancher, a firefighter and various entrepreneurs with ties to the mining and construction industries who were subject to intense blackmail demands.

Authorities say they are looking at shakedowns and possible corruption among public officials as potential factors in the killings.

State attorney general Cristian Paul Camacho Osnaya told reporters on Thursday that at least two of the victims were involved in an “extortion ring,” without specifying their roles. He said investigators examined 14 separate bank accounts possibly related to the crime.

Extortion in Mexico is a multibillion-dollar racket that spans economic sectors and is linked to organized crime.

Police arrested five suspects, at least two of whom may have participated in the killings, authorities said. There was no official statement about who ordered the attack or the reason for it.

Following the murders, hundreds of soldiers, special forces soldiers and police were dispatched across the state.

“Whoever ordered and carried out this barbarity will pay the price,” said Zacatecas Governor David Monreal, a member of Mexico’s ruling Morena political bloc. “There will be justice, not impunity”

For many, official promises of justice ring hollow in a country where very few gangland murders, often committed by low-level hitmen rather than gliders, are solved through what critics call show arrests.

Zacatecas has long been the scene of bloody turf wars between Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation and the Sinaloa cartels. But officials have recently boasted that the state has become a model for curbing mafia unrest; This is a claim that many people find suspicious.

“We live in terror in Zacatecas because we can disappear, we can be killed, we can be kidnapped and the authorities will do nothing,” said Rosa Carmona Rosales, a domestic worker who was part of a search group searching for “missing” victims, including her daughter Adriana, a mother of three who disappeared in 2017. “There is no justice.”

Some business leaders contacted were hesitant to speak on the record, citing sensitivity to retribution and a general climate of fear and uncertainty.

“Of course we pay extortion and the demands don’t always come from organized crime,” said a construction manager who declined to give his name. “Most of the time it comes from local governments… It is a secret that the government and organized crime are in collusion in Zacatecas.”

Two days after the bodies were found, a video began circulating on social media of a masked man reading a statement in front of a line of armed men in tactical gear. He said the killings were revenge by a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. The man accused state officials of violating an “agreement” with the cartel and warned that similar or worse fates awaited others who betrayed the mafia.

“Here, betrayals cost lives,” the masked figure warned.

Authorities describe the video as fake and deny any collusion or collaboration with the cartels.

The massacre took place at a time when the federal government was lauding national security measures as a major success. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum credited her administration’s efforts to reduce homicides by nearly 50% in less than two years.

But many Mexicans remain unconvinced; This skepticism is further strengthened by a steady stream of high-profile murders across the country.

In the days after the Zacatecas killings, a mayor was assassinated in his office in the central state of Morelos, and a journalist was shot to death in southern Oaxaca. Authorities said these crimes were unrelated to the massacre in Zacatecas, but they showed once again how mob violence continues to wreak havoc in Mexico.

“What has happened in Zacatecas in recent days is another indication that criminality is present, that it dominates the region with its connections to local governments,” wrote columnist Carlos Puig in Mexico’s Milenio news outlet.

All 10 bodies were found outside the city of Zacatecas, the state capital and a major tourist attraction with colonial-era churches and other attractions. Visitors are advised not to stray too far from the capital, which has strict police controls.

In Mexico, Zacatecas is famous for its long history of silver mining and for being the scene of a major battle during the Mexican Revolution in 1914, when General Francisco “Pancho” Villa’s rebel forces defeated government troops.

The US State Department gives Zacatecas its highest risk advisory rating, Level 4; which means “Do Not Travel”.

Zacatecas has traditionally been a major source of immigrants to the United States, especially California. Many U.S. residents of Zacatecan descent regularly visit relatives in the state, especially during the holiday seasons.

José Gutiérrez, a Mexican-born architect and U.S. citizen living in Ohio, was in Zacatecas while visiting his fiancee for the Christmas holidays in 2022. The couple disappeared. Weeks later, Mexican authorities found four bodies in a ditch on a farm in Zacatecas.

The remains were identified as belonging to the Ohio architect, his fiancee, his sister and a female cousin.

McDonnell is a staff writer for the Times. Sánchez Vidal like that a special correspondent.