Mexican border city cops in Tecate discovered five murder victims in advanced stages of decomposition with a threatening narco-banner.

The grisly discovery was made at 7 pm on August 5 when police received an anonymous tip about several bodies dumped near colonia Nido de Las Águilas in the municipality of Tecate, according to local reports. The area sits on the border with California, approximately 22 miles west of Tijuana. Municipal and investigative police located the bodies and handled the remote crime scene. The causes of death could not be conclusively determined, but it is believed they were shot at the scene due to the presence of various shell casings near the bodies.

Investigators reported the discovery of a narco-banner left nearby. The message was addressed to “Ponchi” and threatened, “Keep sending your [people] and we will leave them here–los Aquiles do not want you here.” Narco-banners are commonly used by cartels to send threats to rivals, police, politicians, and journalists.

Breitbart Texas previously reported on a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel known as “Los Aquiles” or “Cártel La Rana,” which is led by René Arzate García. He is currently wanted by the FBI for conspiracy to import marijuana.

Much of the violence in the region is attributed to a turf battle between remnants of the Cártel Arellano Félix–aligned with Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG)–against warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Aquiles and “Los Uriarte.” Much of the bloodshed and cartel activity is centered in or near the popular beach resort community of Ensenada.

Secretary for Public Security for the municipality of Tecate, Francisco Castro Trenti, blamed the recent violence on the presence of criminal elements from outside the area. He told reporters the criminal gangs in are not locals and are driven by the violence in Tijuana.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com