Mexico’s Sinaloa state probing killing of 14 people, prosecutors say

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The prosecutor’s office of Mexico’s Sinaloa state is investigating the killing of some 14 people, whose bodies were found around the city of Culiacan, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Mexico has suffered a recent wave of violence with hundreds killed in intra-cartel warfare in Sinaloa, as well as massacres in other states such as Queretaro where 10 people were killed in a bar over the weekend.

The prosecutor’s office said seven bodies had been found on a highway linking Culiacan, the state capital, with the popular Pacific coast resort city of Mazatlan, while three people were found in and around cemeteries and another person near a bridge.

It said 15 complaints had been registered to offices responsible for the theft of vehicles and the specialized missing persons office.

In late October, Sinaloa state authorities reported another 14 people killed in a single day of violence after a major drug trafficker and co-founder of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel was arrested in the United States.

The latest killings come despite efforts to shore up security with thousands of soldiers deploying into the state. Authorities have reported close to 400 killings since early September, many of these believed to be linked to the arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Earlier in the week, U.S. ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar criticized the former administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for being too soft on crime.

Current President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government had sent a “diplomatic note” to the U.S. embassy and that her administration would continue to hold close coordination regarding security with the United States.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Anthony Esposito)