MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors say four dead men have been found in a stolen car in the city of Iguala, in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero.
The state prosecutors said late Wednesday that the victims were linked to a local criminal gang known as “The Flag.” One of the dead men was wanted for the murder of two other men.
Local media reported the car was left near what had once been the campaign headquarters of the city’s incoming mayor, but authorities did not confirm that.
Iguala has long been plagued by drug gang violence. In 2014, police working for one of the gangs kidnapped 43 students from a local teachers’ college and turned them over to the gang, which apparently killed them.
On Thursday, prosecutors also said that the most famous disco in Guerrero state’s biggest resort, Acapulco, had been damaged by fire.
Local media said unidentified men intentionally set the fire, but authorities said they were still waiting for lawyers for the Baby O disco to turn over surveillance camera recordings so they could investigate the blaze.
Guerrero has seen a decrease in killings in recent years, in large part due to the decline of opium trafficking. Many farmers in the state grow opium poppies, but drug cartels have taken to trafficking fentanyl more than opium, thus decreasing violence associated with collecting opium paste.
However, new state and local governments are due to take office this year in Guerrero, and such transitions have traditionally been marked by violence.
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