17 Burned Bodies Found in Cartel-Plagued Sinaloa

Attacks in Sinaloa, the home state of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel, left 24 people dead and 17 of the victims' bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks. Neighbors called police after seeing a pickup truck on fire early yesterday in the state capital Culiacan; investigators found 12 bodies in the back of the truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests. Minutes after the first fire was reported, authorities received another call about a truck burning behind a store. Police found four bodies inside that vehicle. All the victims had been shot.

Hours later, Mexico's federal Interior Department issued a statement saying it "energetically condemned" the killings, and placed the number of dead in the two vehicles at 17. Also yesterday in Sinaloa, four men were shot to death in the town of Mocorito and another three were killed in the town of Guamuchil. Sinaloa is the cradle of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, led by Mexico's most wanted fugitive, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Authorities are trying to determine if some of yesterday's victims were part of a group of nine people, including three police officers, who were kidnapped in the town of Angostura on Monday. (More Sinaloa drug cartel stories.)