City Mayor Decapitated in Mexico

The vehicle where the remains of the mayor of Chilpancingo, Alejandro Arcos of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) were found is transported on a flatbed truck in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, on October 6, 2024. The mayor of the southern Mexican city of Chilpancingo has been killed, authorities said Sunday, the latest in a series of killings against politicians in the violence-ravaged Latin American country. (Photo by Jesus GUERRERO / AFP) (Photo by JESUS GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images)

The 43-year-old mayor of a Mexican city was found decapitated with his severed head placed on top of his car just six days after taking office.

Mayor Alejandro Arcos was discovered dead on Sunday in Chilpancingo, a city of about 280,000 people in the southwest state of Guerrero, on his sixth day as mayor.

The state governor, Evelyn Salgado, declared that the murder “fills us with indignation” and she added that the city was in mourning. His passing occurred three days after the shooting death of Francisco Tapia, the new secretary of the city government.

Authorities have not made the investigation’s specifics or suspects public. However, local drug and trafficking cartels are known to have killed dozens of politicians nationwide, and Guerrero is among the states most severely hit by drug-related violence.

Authorities confirmed the death of the mayor following images posted on social media of what appeared to be his remains. 

Arcos’s social media posts prior to his assassination showed that he had spent his days in office supervising disaster relief efforts following Hurricane John that hit his city last month, prompting severe flooding.

The mayor had posted pictures to his Facebook page just hours before his death, which showed him in meetings with relief workers and impacted residents. 

Mexican Senator Alejandro Moreno has also stated that both Arcos and Tapia were “young and honest officials who sought progress for their community.” 

Moreno continued, urging federal authorities to take charge of the investigation, given Guerrero’s “ungovernability.”

Due to its location along the Pacific coast smuggling routes, Guerrero is among the worst affected states in the country. Additionally, turf battles between the Ardillos and the Tlacos, two drug gangs, have long taken place in Chilpancingo.

In the state, and leading up to Mexico’s elections on June 2nd, at least six candidates for public office were murdered.

Since the government sent the army to fight drug trafficking in 2006, more than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have vanished throughout Mexico.