Mexico mayor’s decapitated head found on his car six days after taking office

The decapitated head of a mayor in Mexico was found atop his car just six days into his tenure, marking the second official to be murdered in Guerrero’s capital in less than a week.

The body of Alejandro Arcos, the 43-year-old mayor of the city of Chilpancingo, was found inside his pickup truck Sunday night while his head was propped on top of the vehicle.

His death was confirmed by the state prosecutors’ office. The state attorney general’s office said it was investigating.

“His loss mourns the entire Guerrero society and fills us with indignation,” Guerrero Gov. Evelyn Salgado said in a statement shared on social media.

The day of his murder, Arcos had visited Chilpancingo neighborhoods damaged during Hurricane John.

The city of roughly 280,000 people is still reeling from the murder of a new government secretary Francisco Tapia, who was shot and killed last week.

“They were young and honest officials who sought progress for their community,” Sen. Alejandro Moreno wrote on X.

Guerrero has become one of the deadliest states for local-level politicians and journalists. At least six candidates for different public offices were killed in Guerrero leading up to Mexico’s June elections.

Chilpancingo has grappled with violent crime for years, primarily spurred by the frequent conflicts between two rival drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos.

The city’s previous mayor, Norma Otilia Hernández, was videotaped allegedly holding a meeting with leaders of the gangs at a restaurant. She was subsequently expelled from her party, which gave Arcos the opening to run.

In July 2023, federal officials said a demonstration in Chilpancingo that month was organized by the Ardillos gang to force two of its leaders to be released, who had been arrested for drugs and weapons possession.

The demonstration lasted for two days as people started to block all traffic on the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco, battling security forces and even stealing a police armored truck, which they used to break down the gates of the state legislature building.

The demonstrators abducted 10 members of the state police and National Guard on top of three state and federal officials. State authorities eventually won the release of the hostages in exchange for promises to invest in public works projects.

With Post wires