HomeNewsBriefSevered Heads Left Outside School in Acapulco, Mexico
BRIEF

Severed Heads Left Outside School in Acapulco, Mexico

MEXICO / 29 SEP 2011 BY JEANNA CULLINAN EN

Five decomposing human heads were left in a sack outside a school in Acapulco, southern Mexico, as teachers from the region strike in protest against drug gang extortion payments.

The remains were found on Tuesday morning on the street outside a primary school along with messages threatening local officials.

Hundreds of schools in the city are currently closed, as many teachers strike in protest against the authorities' failure to protect them from extortion demands by criminal groups. It is not clear whether the heads are meant as a threat against teachers who do not comply with the demands.

Over the last three months, dozens of teachers have been kidnapped and thousands have become victims of an extortion racket that threatens violence against those who refuse to turn over half of their salary.

Guerrero Attorney General Alberto Lopez Rojas confirmed the appearance of a "narco-banner," a public sign hung by criminal groups, threatening the lives of teachers in the state.

The official asserted that the recent wave of violence results from the fragmentation and reorganization of various criminal organizations in the area, in the wake of government actions against the powerful cartels that have left a power vacuum. As InSight Crime has reported, at least one new criminal group has apparently emerged in Acapulco in recent months.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CONTRABAND / 30 APR 2021

A series of operations carried out by the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office against networks dedicated to trafficking Mexican poultry, shed…

GUATEMALA / 8 DEC 2021

A transnational labor trafficking network brought dozens of individuals from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to the United States under the…

DISPLACEMENT / 3 MAR 2022

Without the bodies, the exact number of people executed in broad daylight at a funeral in Mexico's western state of…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…