9 People Killed Next to San Luis Potosí Highway; Authorities Believe They Were From Zacatecas

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

The Attorney General's Office of the State of San Luis Potosí (FGESLP) has started an investigation after they discovered 9 lifeless bodies in Vanegas municipality on Tuesday afternoon.

The discovery took place on the Vanegas and San Tiburcio highway, which borders the state of Zacatecas, when the authorities were alerted of the presence of seven men and two women. Investigators confirmed that all of the victims were handcuffed and had gunshot wounds in multiple parts of their bodies.

Investigative Police (PDI) agents went to the site and started with the corresponding procedures in order to identify the victims. They are collaborating with Zacatecas state officials since they speculate that some of the victims were from there.

State officials ordered Legal Medical Service (Semele) to transfer the victims to their facilities to conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, as required by Mexican law when someone is murdered.

San Luis Potosi, a Lucrative Plaza

The geographical location and connectivity of the state of San Luis Potosí (SLP) makes it a lucrative plaza for drug cartels. Since SLP is an obligatory route to reach states like Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Guanajuato and Zacatecas, cartels have been fighting for control of this state since 2010.

In the last decade, the region has suffered the settlement of at least six criminal organizations, although just a year ago violence erupted in record numbers with the consolidation of a Gulf Cartel faction and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG).

According to the authorities, the first criminal groups to settle in SLP over a decade ago were the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, their former paramilitary group. However, due to the internal divisions of the latter criminal organization, the Gulf Cartel was left with a greater presence in the state.

Currently, the Gulf Cartel has presence in 19 municipalities in the Altiplano and Huasteca regions, such as Valles, Tamuín and Ébano. Los Zetas, have presence in 11 of the 58 municipalities of SLP, including Ciudad del Maíz, El Naranjo, and other places in the southern Huasteca region.

The area of ​​influence of the CJNG is relatively new in SLP and most of it is concentrated on the municipalities that border with Guanajuato. The authorities say that municipalities like Rioverde, Salinas, Villa de Reyes, Tierra Nueva, Santa María del Río, and the state capital, are where the CJNG operates.

Sources: Quadratin SLP; El Universal (San Luis); Metropolis San Luis; Plano Informativo; Infobae

Images Credit: Reporteros en Movimiento;