A day after the gendarmerie division of the Federal Police arrived to the state Veracruz, eleven bodies were found inside a white van in the Graciano Sánchez neighborhood in Boca del Río.

According to recent reports, the bodies — two belonging to women and nine to men — were half-naked and showed evidence of recent torture and gunshot wounds; they have been taken to Forensic Services to undergo autopsies.

Governor Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares stated this was not an attack on the government or on civilians, but the result of conflicts between organized crime groups. After 2011, Boca del Río witnessed the displacement of Los Zetas by the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) which is currently engaged in criminal activities with the Sinaloa Cartel.

Yunes Linares said the van was part of a fleet of federal public transportation, and the person from whom it was stolen has already been identified. The governor also claimed these “barbaric acts” are product of quarrels among criminals from opposing groups and announced the launch of the Public Security Joint Operation program.