The fight between police and violent drug cartels in Mexico has turned the country into a bloody war zone. An abducted troupe of musicians was the latest to suffer at the hands of criminals after their bodies were found in a well over the weekend and on Monday.
The grim discovery of 12 bodies by Mexican police was reported by the New York Times and several news agencies. According to spokesperson Jorge Domene, on behalf of the state of Nuevo Leon, investigators were pointed to the murder scene with the help a band member who narrowly escaped being shot by the band’s abductors. Last Thursday, an armed group seized as many as 18 from a bar in the city of Monterrey. The survivor told officials that their captors interrogated the musicians and asked if they belonged to a rival gang. Refusing to answer, the band members were shot according to reports.
We are going to continue looking for them,” said Nuevo Leon state governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz to a local station. “We are also going to investigate to find the motive, why it happened and, in the event that the taking of their lives is confirmed, what was behind this and of course capturing those that did it.” At a press conference on Monday, Mr. Domene confirmed that this murder was a “direct attack” and that more bodies may be found later.
Four bodies have been identified thus far, all wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the band name “Poderoso Kombo Kolombia” on the front. Kombo Kolombia is comprised of folk musicians who played a Colombian style of music known as “vallenato” and were not linked with “narcocorridos” (which translates into “drug ballads”) bands who play music that depict the dealings of the cartels.
Since 2006, roughly 70,000 have perished due to the drug and gang-related violence after former president Felipe Calderon vowed to stamp out the cartels. Current president Enrique Pena Nieto has repeatedly vowed to quell the violence.
Check out photos of the crime scene and the band in the gallery.
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Photo: AP
