Gunmen from one of Mexico’s most ruthless cartels left the dismembered remains of four men in the middle of the street as a warning to rivals in Michoacán.

The case began in the city of Huandacareo when residents called police about several body parts left in the downtown area with poster boards signed by Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). Authorities found the bodies of three men outside a gas station.

Moments later, authorities responded to a second scene where they discovered a fourth body. Investigators documented both crime scenes and collected the various body parts for further study.

Residents in Michoacan recorded cell phone footage of the gruesome scenes and shared them with citizen journalists documenting the violence in the western state.

4 DEZCUARTIZADOS CJNG El hallazgo en la entrada del poblado Huandacareo a 35 kilómetros de la capital Morelia en Michoacán, son 13 pedazos de carne humana para un total de 4 víctimas con un mensaje de Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación @IldefonsoOrtiz pic.twitter.com/ngTDTaOR1T — Unidad De Inteligencia Ciudadana (@UnidadDeInteli1) March 5, 2020

At both scenes, authorities found poster boards signed by members of CJNG, which threaten leaders from the rival cartel Nueva Familia Michoacana-Viagras.

For several months, both criminal organizations have waged a fierce turf war over control of the area’s drug production and trafficking routes. The violence manifests itself in fierce shootouts and grisly crime scenes which state officials are often keen to downplay for the public.

CJNG has become one of the most violent cartels tied to the escalation of conflicts throughout central Mexico that were once considered safe.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and other areas to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Jose Luis Lara, a former leading member who helped start the Self-Defense Movement in Michoacán.