Body parts found stuffed into plastic bags in the central Mexican state of Toluca belonged to six different victims, authorities said.
Police arrested 11 people in connection with the killings, the state’s public safety secretary, Salvador Neme Sastre, told a press conference in Toluca, the state capital.
He said the suspects, thought to work for the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel, were apprehended after an extended police operation in metropolitan Toluca.
Among those arrested is Victor Hugo Jaramillo Jaramillo, alias "El M2" alleged leader of the Familia Michoacana in the Valley of Toluca."Victor Hugo Jaramillo Jaramillo, "M2", deserted the Army a few years ago and joined the organized crime. Was appointed by the criminal organization to run a criminal cell in the metropolitan area of Toluca," the Secretary explained
“State officers blocked the path of a dark-colored, Suburban-type SUV and a Fiat brand compact car, from which the occupants began firing shots,” Neme said.
Nobody was hurt in the shooting and the cops seized five shotguns, five handguns and 165 rounds of ammunition from the suspects, the secretary said.
Investigators think the suspects were also responsible for the deaths of more than 30 people whose bodies were found over the course of Jan. 12-14 at various spots in the Valley of Mexico, which encompasses Mexico state and the Federal District, official sources said.
Violence has flared in the Valley in recent weeks, with more than a score of murders just in Mexico City.
Based in the western state of Michoacan, La Familia Michoacana is involved in kidnapping and extortion along with its core business of drug trafficking.
Conflict among rival drug outfits and between criminals and the security forces has claimed some 70,000 lives in Mexico over the last six years.
Source: EFE