Police find 7 slain in abandoned cars in southern Mexico

Police find 7 slain in southern Mexico

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Mexican authorities have found seven corpses in two abandoned cars, along with written messages referring to drug cartels, state police said Wednesday.

The bullet-riddled bodies of three men were found inside a car on the highway between the resort communities of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo on Wednesday morning, said police in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, where both are located.

Police have not released the message left with their bodies, but said it referred to drug cartels.

Late Tuesday night state police found the bodies of four young men in an abandoned car near a hotel in Guerrero’s capital, Chilpancingo. A police report said the men appeared to have been asphyxiated by plastic tape covering their faces.

A written message left on the windshield accused them of betraying the brothers who lead the Beltran Leyva cartel, police said Wednesday.

Last month, Mexican authorities killed kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva and captured his brother, Carlos Beltran Leyva. Another brother, Hector Beltran Leyva, is believed to be the cartel’s boss now.

In the neighboring west coast state of Michoacan, two gunmen and a police officer died in a violent clash early Wednesday, state prosecutors said.

Gunmen opened fire just after 1 a.m. when police in the city of Uruapan attempted to stop their SUV.

A policeman died instantly when attackers threw a grenade at his head, and another officer was injured. Hours later investigators found the corpses of two men prosecutors believe were involved in the shootout.

Drug gangs frequently target police in Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon’s home state.

Calderon launched a crackdown against drug cartels in 2006, deploying thousands of troops and federal police across Mexico. Since then, drug violence has killed more than 15,000 people throughout the country.