The mayor of a Mexican city has been decapitated by drug gangs less than a week after taking office.
Alejandro Arcos, the 43-year-old mayor of Chilpancingo, was found dead inside his pickup truck on Sunday night, October 6, with his head propped on top of the vehicle.
His death was confirmed by the state prosecutors’ office, which stated that an investigation is underway.
Chilpancingo, located in Guerrero, Mexico, has long been the site of violent turf wars between local drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos.
The city has experienced such intense violence that the Ardillos gang once organized a demonstration, hijacked an armored government vehicle, and took 10 police officers hostage following the arrest of its leaders for drug and weapons possession.
Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, has urged federal authorities to take over the investigation due to Guerrero’s “ungovernability.”
Moreno also noted that Arcos’s murder occurred just three days after the shooting of Francisco Tapia, the city government’s new secretary.
“They had been in office less than a week,” Mr Moreno said. “They were young and honest public servants who were seeking progress for their community.”
Mr. Arcos’s social media posts indicate that he had spent his initial days in office overseeing disaster relief after Hurricane John caused severe flooding in Acapulco and its surrounding areas.
He also met with relief workers and residents in the hours leading up to his death, as reflected in photos on his Facebook account.
