A Mexican drug cartel hacked off the hands of three people and stuffed them in bags and left the victims blindfolded on a highway screaming in pain. The incident happened in Silao, in the central state of Guanajuato, over the weekend. The trio, a woman aged 22 and two men aged 23 and 25, were reportedly punished by the drug cartel for stealing.
The group was discovered by locals, who said the three were dumped from a vehicle alongside a bag containing their severed limbs and a note signed by the notorious Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel. Their hands, six in all, were found in a bag nearby, while the three kept profusely bleeding and screaming.
Brutal Punishment
The trio was spotted by locals who saw the three of them lying by the side of highway and screaming for help. They were blindfolded and their hands and legs were bound together so that they could not escape. On moving closer, they found a bright green poster board tied to them that read: "This happened to me because I am a thief who does not respect good, hard-working people.'
"Whoever continues to steal, this will happen to them," the Daily Mail reported. Beneath was a signature of Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel, one of the most notorious narcotics gangs in Mexico. However, the gang members had tied the hands of the trio with ligatures to prevent them from bleeding to death.
Medical help was immediately called and paramedics transported the three to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Their severed hands that were were also carried by the paramedics in an ice bag in hopes of being able to reattach them. However, that could not be done.
What Exactly Happened?
One of the victims gave his name as Ricardo, while the woman said her name was Dulce. Both come from the local area. However, the third man couldn't give his name because of his critical condition and trauma. Police alter arrived to the scene and have started an investigation although no arrests have been made yet.
The victims also said that besides chopping off their hands, they were also beaten. Known for their ultra-violent tactics, members of the CJNG are thought to have cannibalized some of their victims in the past as part of an initiation rite.
The cartel gained notoriety after being hired by El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel as foot soldiers in their war against the Los Zetas cartel. Since then it has established a drug-running territory that runs coast to coast across Mexico. In fact, CJNG is considered the second most powerful cartel in Mexico after Sinaloa.
That said, this isn't the first time that a Mexican drug cartel has punished its enemies so severely. The country's vicious cartels have cut off the hands of their enemies in the past. In fact, not only drug cartels, in 2018, a Mexican presidential candidate nicknamed "El Bronco'' famously said during a televised debate, "We have to cut off the hands of those who rob. It's that simple.''
