Four severed heads and at least two decapitated bodies appeared Thursday in public spaces in Guatemala bearing notes aimed at high government officials, security forces said.
Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said the first head was found at the entrance of Congress in Guatemala City. A second head was found outside a shopping center and a third near a fire station, both in the southern part of the capital city. Later in the day officials located a fourth head in the northern part of the city.
Menocal said police found three messages that said, “No more government impunity.”
Police attributed the slayings to the Zetas or another drug cartel, according to the daily La Prensa Libre.
Another message read, “This is happening for all the abuses and injustices there are in the jails in this country,” and charged the interior minister, Menocal, and prisons chief Eddy Morales with abuse of authority.
Two decapitated bodies were found, the official said, adding that none of the victims has been identified but they are all presumed to be between 30 and 40 years old.
Officials did not name a specific suspect in the case but they said the slayings are the work of narco gangs.
Menocal said imprisoned gang members have complained of abuse and lack of food, which the official denied. He said the country’s 10,500 inmates receive three meals a day.