Eleven corpses showing signs of torture and execution-style gunshot wounds were found in southwest Mexico on Sunday, according to local authorities.
Ricardo Monreal, an official with the Guerrero state prosecutor's office, told Reuters the bodies were recovered in three different locations along the coastal highway northwest of the Pacific resort city of Acapulco.
He declined to confirm which cartel is believed to be responsible for the grisly discovery, but local media reported that two "narco messages" signed by the Knights Templar cartel were found alongside the bodies.
The Knights Templar cartel, based in Michoacan state north of Guerrero, is the most bizarre cult-like group to have emerged since President Felipe Calderon declared war against Mexico's drug cartels in 2006.
The conflict has triggered a series of turf wars that have claimed more than 55,000 lives.
Propaganda from the Knights Templar cartel blends a mix of Michoacan regionalism, Christianity and revolutionary slogans.
The cartel is one of the biggest traffickers of crystal meth to the United States and has an army of around 1,200 gunmen, according to a report by Mexico's military intelligence.
It is blamed for the worst attack on a multinational company in Mexico in recent years.
In May, assailants torched more than 30 trucks and two Michoacan warehouses belonging to PepsiCo's Sabritas, a leading potato chip brand.
© Thomson Reuters.
