Over 25 killed, found dead around Mexico in days

Twenty six at least were reported killed or found dead around Mexico through 18-21 August including 12 killed in the north-western state of Sinaloa, two state detectives murdered in Guerrero and seven bodies found in Estado de México in central Mexico. The 12 killed in Sinaloa on 20-21 August included four car passengers shot in an ambush in the countryside outside Culiacán and three gunmen shot dead by police whom they had attacked at an unspecified spot, Milenio reported on 22 August. The daily separately reported that a person died and two were injured in a shootout in Tepito in Mexico City on 21 August, in what witnesses declared was a fight over drugs. The bodies of two undercover policemen engaged in intelligence work in the west-coast state of Guerrero were found on 20 August, buried near a village in the district of Juan R. Escudero and indicating they had been tortured and shot; armed men reportedly kidnapped them on 5 August in the village of El Ocotito in Chilpancingo, Proceso reported on 20 August. The review observed that a gang called Los Rojos was now dominant in the Chilpancingo district and that Federal Police detained 10 suspected members of the gang in El Ocotito during July. Police unearthed seven bodies from a grave in Tlamanalco de Velásquez in the Estado de México outside the capital, and were investigating to ascertain whether or not they could belong to some of the youngsters kidnapped from a Mexico City after-hours club on 26 May. Authorities were to perform tests before making declarations, Milenio reported, citing the chief prosecutor of capital Rodolfo Ríos. At least four individuals were reported killed in the eastern states of Tabasco and Campeche between 18 and 21 August, including a bus driver gunned down in Cunduacán on 21 August, a man "burned alive" in a car in Cunduacán on 18 August and two shot dead near Balancán or Campeche that day, Tabasco Hoy reported.