Mexican cartel civil war escalates as four decapitated bodies hung from bridge

Four decapitated bodies were discovered hanging from a bridge as a brutal civil war claimed the lives of almost 20 people in less than 24 hours.

The war, which is happening between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel – Los Chapitos and La Mayiza, saw corpses dumped across the city of Culiacan in Mexico. On Monday, the four corpses were ruthlessly put on display, while their heads were found nearby in plastic bags.

In the same area, authorities said they made the grim discovery of 16 further victims, who were also identified as all male. Officials confirmed that a note was placed beside their bodies, reportedly written by of the cartel factions. However, the details of the letter remain unknown at this time.

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Feliciano Castro, Sinaloa government spokesperson, addressed the bloodshed and said that authorities must ramp up their efforts to tackle organised crime. He said that their strategy of tackling the issue must be reviewed and said the violence has been at a "magnitude". He added: "Military and police forces are working together to re-establish total peace in Sinaloa."

The two rival factions became embroiled into a civil war in September last year, after a leader of one of the groups was kidnapped and handed over to the US authorities, reports Independent.  Earlier this year, it was reported that the La Mayiza faction has been winning increased support among regional crimebosses as it continues to pledge allegiance to Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel who was also arrested last year. However, Los Chapitos could continue to grow in strength.

Experts previously commented on the chances of the Los Chapitos coming together with another rival group called Jalisco New Generation Cartel ( CJNG). The DEA's recent report said of the pact: "A strategic alliance between CJNG and Los Chapitos has the potential to expand these groups’ territories, resources, firepower, and access to corrupt officials, which could result in significant disruption to the existing balance of criminal power in Mexico and could serve to increase northbound drug flow and the southbound weapons trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border."