For the past few weeks, there have been gruesome reports of hanging bodies all around Zacatecas, Mexico. In the northwest Zacatecas area, ten male bodies were discovered hanging from a bridge on a federal highway. These bodies were later claimed to symbolize the state’s contaminated wars between opposing drug cartels.

For decades, drug trafficking gangs have grown marijuana secretly in Zacatecas; however, in recent years, the state has become a battleground where rival narcotics groups have shot or beheaded each other. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, as well as smaller groups, are fighting over control of the crucial highways in Zacatecas. The highways are significant because narcotics are able to be transported to the U.S. border. Researchers have informed the public that gangs use the tactic of hanging bodies from bridges to intimidate their enemies.

To gain more clarity about this devastating event, a former resident of Zacatecas, Rosa Angelica Ortiz, was asked the following question:

“When you used to live in Zacatecas, Mexico, were hangings more common? If they weren’t, then why do you think they have surfaced more now?”

Rosa Ortiz replied with:

“The hangings that are happening in Zacatecas right now were very common when I was younger. My family and I soon found out that they were drug cartel related. Back then, there were many wars between the drug cartels. I haven’t heard about these types of hangings in a while, so I was surprised when you informed me that they were occurring now.”

Another former local of Zacatecas, Mexico, Raul Ortiz, was given the question:

“What do you think about the drug cartel problems in Mexico? What do you think should be done about it?”

Raul Oritz responded with:

“The problem is that the money is so lucrative and enticing that people kill for it very easily and even though the biggest cartel kings like Pablo and Chapo are gone, others quickly rise to take their position! You have to get to the root of the problem, which is drug addiction, and when you eliminate that, that is when the drug lords will no longer be.”

The strategy of hanging bodies from bridges first emerged more than a decade ago. It has lessened in the past few years, but there are new signs of horrid public violence in some areas, for instance Zacatecas. Police officials are doing the best they can to protect individuals from these threatening actions.