Eleven beheaded bodies were dumped close to a graveyard outside a sleepy southern city on Thursday in the latest shocking crime in Mexico's vicious drug war.
Police said a farmer found the 11 bodies, showing signs of torture, five miles from this southern colonial city in the Yucatan peninsula often where tourists stop off on their way to visit the world-famous Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza.
All the bodies had star signs and the letter Z tattooed on them, police sources said. A 12th beheaded body was found 50 miles away in a small town to the east of Merida, also showing signs of torture.
It was the latest mass beheading in Mexico since drug traffickers rolled several heads onto the floor of a nightclub in Michoacan state in 2006 in a blatant message to rivals and the government.
More than 2,300 people have been killed in drug violence this year, as Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, vies with rivals for control of the country's lucrative drug trade.
President Felipe Calderon has made crushing drug gangs a top priority, sending troops across the country in an attempt to restore law and order.
But drug violence has only spiraled as rival gangs fight each other and the army. Endemic police corruption has further complicated efforts to rid Mexico of cartels.
The United States has approved $465 million to help Mexico and Central America battle drug cartels.