08/23/10 – Around 5:00 hours yesterday, the decapitated bodies of four young men between the ages of 20 and 24 were found bound and hanging by the feet from a bridge on the México-Acapulco highway in Cuernavaca, local authorities reported. It is believed that the young men were “picked up” by an armed commando traveling in several vehicles Saturday morning on Paseo Cuauhnáhuac. According to a report released by the Morelos State Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de Justicia del estado de Morelos), the genitals and index finger of each body were severed. The four heads of the victims, two of which had been blindfolded, were also found on the highway.
Written on a cardboard and placed beneath the genitals of the victims were the following words, “This will happen to all those who support the traitor Edgar Valdés Villarreal, alias ‘La Barbie’”. The message was signed with the initials C.P.S, referring to the Cártel del Pacífico Sur. The victims were identified in the message as: Mauricio Michel Maravilla Martínez, Edgar Eduardo Ayala Gallardo, Eder Ernesto Calderón Martínez, and Erick Ivan Ayala Ortiz.
One of the fathers of the victims received a phone call early that morning telling him that his son had been traveling with three other men in a red Peugeot vehicle that was intercepted by a X-trail truck. After calling his son several times and not getting an answer he filed a complaint for the crime of unlawful deprivation of liberty (privación ilegal de la libertad).
Sources:
EFE. “Hallan cadáveres de 4 jóvenes decapitados, sin genitales y dedos cortados.” ABC. 22 Agosto, 2010.
El Sol de Cuernavaca. “‘Levantados’ por comando armado en el crucero de Tizoc.” 23 Agosto, 2010.
