Vehicle with bodies left in front of gov’t building in Mexico

Mexico City, Jan 6 (EFE).- An SUV holding 10 dead bodies was found abandoned Thursday outside the seat of government in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas, authorities said.

“At 5:30 in the morning I was informed about a gray SUV that came to be left here, in front of the Palace of Government, with bodies that appeared to be beaten and injured,” Gov. David Monreal said in a post on social media.

He said that the vehicle was parked alongside a giant Christmas tree on the main square in Zacatecas city, the state capital.

The public safety department said that police received a telephone call early Thursday from someone who saw the SUV pull up and a man get out and walk away.

All relevant agencies were alerted immediately, the department said, adding that last year’s deployment of additional National Guard and military personnel in Zacatecas brought “an improvement in security and the reduction of homicides” in the state.

Public safety “is a pending issue in our country and consequently, in our state,” Monreal said while hailing figures showing an across-the-board drop in crime last month.

“Little by little we will continue to recuperate our peace,” the governor said.

Preliminary data released Thursday by the federal government reflect a 4.1 percent decline in murders nationwide, from 34,554 in 2020 to 33,410 last year.

Zacatecas state experienced a substantial growth in gangland violence during the second half of 2021, with massacres, execution-style killings and the hanging of bodies from bridges. EFE csr/dr