The nine dismembered and mutilated bodies found by Mexican authorities along a highway in the state of Puebla is just one of 12 such crimes reported by officials in the state so far this year, according to the civil society group Causa en Común.
The organization, which works to improve Mexico's legal and law enforcement system and promote transparency, said that between January and February of this year crimes related to mutilation or dismemberment already tied the cases seen in all of 2024.
Five men and four women went missing on Feb. 27 after making a vacation trip to Huatulco, Oaxaca. Their bodies were found a few days later in the municipality of San José Miahuatlán, in the state of Puebla, with officials reportedly saying that the murders could be linked to a dispute between criminal organizations. They also did not rule out the idea of involvement by local law enforcement.
Investigators believe local police officers colluded in the murders after local press reported that Brenda Mariel Salas Moya, one of two survivors of the attack, said she and another victim had left a hostel when they were intercepted by what seemed to be a local police car.
Amid the increase in such cases, Causa en Común said in a statement that violence should not be normalized and that "justice and concrete actions should be demanded" from authorities.
Authorities found all dismembered bodies inside an abandoned vehicle along the Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca highway. Upon inspecting the vehicle, authorities found a bloodied tarp that contained five bodies and a bag with eight pairs of hands, per local media outlet Central Puebla Irreverente, with the remaining four bodies stashed inside the vehicle's trunk.
As Causa en Común highlights, it is not the first such crime that has taken place in the state of Puebla this year. According to reports from Infobae Mexico, law enforcement that responded to a Jan. 29 call found human remains inside black trash bags during a patrol in the rural community of San Salvador Chachapa. Testimonies from witnesses said that a "narcomanta" —messages left by drug cartels on a cloth banner, usually containing threats— was found at the same place as the human remains, although it did not specify who it was targeted to.
A few days earlier, on Jan. 18, human remains of two more people were found along with another narcomanta in the municipality of San Martín Texmelucan.
And just last month, authorities were notified of another plastic bag containing human remains along the Mexico-Puebla interstate.
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