15 Bodies Dumped at Mexico Gas Station

The drug war appears to be heating up again in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's home state. Some 15 semi-naked bodies were found in a pile outside a gas station in Zitacuaro, Michoacan state, the BBC reports. All of the victims were male and three were minors. Police say threatening messages were left next to the bodies, which showed signs of torture.

The state had been relatively peaceful after police killed the boss of La Familia cartel in December 2010, but the remnants of that cartel are now at war with an offshoot calling itself the Knights Templar, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Times notes that in less troubled times, Zitacuaro was primarily known for tourists who would gather to watch the annual migration of monarch butterflies. (More Mexico stories.)