Nine bodies found hanging from bridge in Mexico

MEXICO CITY: Nine men were found hanging from a bridge Friday in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo, a killing spree authorities blame drug gang violence.

A Mexican drug cartel claimed responsibility for the murders, a state government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He did not say which cartel.

Some 40 percent of Mexican exports sent by land to the United States cross through Nuevo Laredo, making the town a choice site for drug smugglers.

"The nine bodies were hanging from a bridge on the Colosio boulevard," over the express lane leading to the highway that links Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey, Mexico's third largest city, the official said.

The victims were likely kidnapped from a bar hours earlier, the official said.

One of the victims was a "young man, 16 years old," and all the bodies showed evidence of "bullet wounds in the head," the state of Tamaulipas prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Friday's gruesome display follows the arrest Wednesday of Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, a senior leader of the Gulf of Mexico cartel. In early September authorities arrested Mario Cardenas Guillen, another Gulf cartel leader.

The Gulf cartel and their former allies, the paramilitary Zetas, have been fighting to control the Nuevo Laredo smuggling routes for at least two years. A third cartel, the Sinaloa Federation, has also sought to control the routes.

Analysts had predicted a rise in violence as rival gangs try to capitalize on the blows to the Gulf cartel.

In May, nine bodies, including four women, were found hanging from a Nuevo Laredo bridge. The bodies were discovered hours after 14 decapitated bodies were found near the mayor's office.

Authorities attributed the killings to drug gang warfare.

Some 60,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed Mexico's military to take on the gangs. (AFP)