6 bodies found hanging from bridges in Mexico tourism hotspot
Six bodies were found hanging from bridges Wednesday in Mexico's Baja California, a region known for its pristine beaches and popular with foreign tourists, authorities said.
Grisly killings were once rare in the country's tourism hotspots but have risen in recent years as organized crime has grown.
The bodies were discovered along highways leading to international airports in La Paz, San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, nicknamed the Los Cabos area.
It is a massive international Pacific resort area popular with Americans, Canadians and Europeans.
The bodies were spread across three bridges, two on each, the local prosecutor said. The victims have not yet been identified.
A total of 409 people were murdered in the area from January through October -- more than double for all of 2016.
Drug gangs are fighting over routes on which they move drugs to the United States, as well as over turf on which they sell drugs to tourists from overseas.
More than 196,000 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006 when the federal government launched a controversial military-led antidrug offensive.