Police in Mexico have found nine decapitated bodies close to a highway in the southern state of Guerrero.
A local official said some of the victims were soldiers. Thousands of troops have been deployed across Mexico in anti-drug smuggling operations.
Nine heads were found earlier in plastic bags close to a supermarket, reportedly with a note warning of more decapitations to follow.
Nearly 5,400 people have been murdered in drugs-related violence this year.
Local media have reported that nine soldiers were abducted on Saturday as they left a nearby military base, close to the city of Chilpancingo.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed about 40,000 troops and police since December 2006 against the drugs cartels.
But Mexico's top prosecutor has said that the violence is likely to worsen in 2009 as drug gangs split and fight for turf.
Officials say the increasingly gruesome nature of the violence shows that the drugs gangs are being squeezed, intensifying their internal squabbles.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7794792.stm
A local official said some of the victims were soldiers. Thousands of troops have been deployed across Mexico in anti-drug smuggling operations.
Nine heads were found earlier in plastic bags close to a supermarket, reportedly with a note warning of more decapitations to follow.
Nearly 5,400 people have been murdered in drugs-related violence this year.
Local media have reported that nine soldiers were abducted on Saturday as they left a nearby military base, close to the city of Chilpancingo.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed about 40,000 troops and police since December 2006 against the drugs cartels.
But Mexico's top prosecutor has said that the violence is likely to worsen in 2009 as drug gangs split and fight for turf.
Officials say the increasingly gruesome nature of the violence shows that the drugs gangs are being squeezed, intensifying their internal squabbles.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7794792.stm