Police have found a bag of decomposing severed heads outside a primary school in Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coast. Accompanying the severed heads were threatening messages, allegedly addressed to the local state governor and local drug lords. The city has seen several episodes of rough violence as drug cartels fight to control the fairly touristic city. As it stands, this incident is yet another gruesome episode of the Mexican drug war which has been going on for decades. The violence has prompted schools to close as teachers rest insecure of the safety of their pupils, as well as their own. A day earlier, five headless bodies were found badly burned in and outside a burned-out vehicle. They all appeared to be male, but due to the fierce burn it was hard to determine the gender of all bodies. Dozens of schools have been closed since last month after teachers went on strike over security concerns. In videos posted on the Internet, various gangs are claiming to be working against violence and for the concerns of civilians, who have been suffering severely from the passive part they play witnessing the drug war. Kids are not able to attend school, worry and random violence affects everyday lives. In spite of the honorable intentions of the video-posting cartels, mass graves and body dumps happen on a regular basis. The interior department has clearly stated that fighting cartels must happen on a legal basis. “Any group or organization that operates outside the law and with violence, is being combated through (government) institutions, and without any favoritism,” a statement from the department said. As the Mexican army is accused of favoring certain cartels over others, security expert Edgardo Basucaglia is troubled by the possibility of the situation evolving. He fears that Para-military like organizations start operating, supporting specific gangs and cartels with the tacit tolerance or support of armed forces and police. The Mexican drug war is an armed conflict between drug cartels aiming to take regional control, and the Mexican authorities trying to restore order. The primary governmental focus has been to dismantle the biggest drug cartels and the violence they exercise on civilians, and less focus has been invested in ending drug trafficking to the US. BM
