Mexican authorities say they found 19 shots and burnt bodies near a city across the Rio Grande from Texas in an area that has seen violent territorial disputes between organized crime groups over the past few years. The state prosecutor in Tamaulipas said late Saturday that the bodies were discovered along a dirt road outside Camargo after residents reported a burning vehicle.
Authorities found two vehicles on fire, one with four bodies and the other 15. Some rifles were also found.
All were shot, but shells were not found at the site, which led investigators to believe they were dead somewhere else.
A Camargo official, who asked for security reasons to be anonymous, said the killings took place on Friday, but people were afraid to report it.
Meanwhile, rumors were circulating in Guatemala on Sunday that immigrants from Guatemala were among the dead.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Guatemala’s embassy in Mexico and the consulate in Monterrey were communicating with state and federal authorities “to determine if anyone of Guatemalan nationality was among the victims.” It is said that they have activated protocol for consular assistance.
Camargo is a major smuggling crossing point for drugs and migrants. Organized crime groups want control over parts of the border because they make money from everything that crosses the border.
Camargo is near the edge of the area historically controlled by the Gulf Cartel, and in recent years a remnant of the Zetas known for trying to take over the Northeast Cartel has taken over.
In January 2020, 21 bodies, most of which were cremated, were found in various vehicles near the neighboring city of Ciudad Mier. Days later, the Mexican army killed 11 suspected gunmen in the area.
In January 2019, in the buurdorp Miguel Aleman, 24 bodies were found, of which 15 were charred.
In August 2010, a group of 72 undocumented migrants died in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Authorities said the massacre was carried out by the Zetas cartel, one of the most powerful at the time.
Mexico recorded 34,523 assassinations in 2020, a slight decrease from its 2019 figure of 34,608, which has been a record high since the start of official counts.
Cartel-related violence has plagued Mexico since 2006, with more than 300,000 murders since then.
The AFP contributed to this report.