Headless Body Dumped in Front of Restaurant in Mazatlan; Patterico Denies Responsibility
This past Tuesday, two people were executed in front of a hotel in the Golden Zone in Mazatlan, a touristed area. As it happens, the Patterico clan was in Mazatlan that day. I swear I had nothing to do with it.
Nor did I have anything to do with the headless body tossed in front of a restaurant the same day.
The story of the double murder at the hotel barely merited a couple of lines in the Associated Press:
Farther north, in the Pacific coast resort of Mazatlan, two men were shot to death in the parking lot of a hotel frequented by foreign tourists. Neither of the victims were tourists, but guests reported hearing the gunshots.
A travel site adds these details:
Also, a travel agent told TravelPulse.com he received an email from a client on the Norwegian Star who said other passengers in the vicinity reported hearing about 40 shots being fired.
That was our cruise ship, and there was indeed a lot of talk about it, although it was mostly in the form of fourth-hand rumors that botched the details, as you would expect. As for us, we hadn’t gone into town, as we had opted for a boat ride around some estuaries that would keep us out of the town. I sort of wanted to see the cathedral afterwards, but I was the only one — and with all the previous reports of muggings and such in the city, I didn’t force the issue. I’m now glad I didn’t.
As for the headless body, well, that didn’t even merit a single mention in any English-language Big Media source I could find. It took an exploration of Mexican newspapers to learn about the beheaded body. . . and the head, in a separate bag . . . and the body of the pig:
Una persona fue decapitada y su cuerpo dejado en el acceso principal de un restaurante en la zona Dorada, en la cual se encuentran la mayoría de los hoteles, restaurantes y discotecas turísticas del puerto de Mazatlán.
Junto al cuerpo que estaba envuelto en una bolsa de plástico negro, estaba la cabeza en otra bolsa negra. A menos dos metros dejaron un puerco muerto, al cual le dispararon en la cabeza los sicarios.
El reporte de la Policía Municipal señala que la víctima no ha sido identificada, aunque autoridades presumieron que se trata de una persona secuestrada.
El restaurante de la zona dorada, donde dejaron el cuerpo es El Habaleño, el cual a la hora en que dejaron el cuerpo decapitado y el cerdo, ya estaba cerrado. En este inmueble también ejecutaron a dos personas identificadas como Guadalupe Núñez el domingo pasado por la tarde.
I include the Spanish for the benefit of readers who can read it, as I have no reliable translation. A horrible Google translation is available here, but I would ignore that. I’ll do my best at a rough translation, and then you smarty-pantses who know better can correct me:
A person was decapitated and his corpse was left in the main entrance of a restaurant in the Golden Zone, where the majority of the hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs of the port of Mazatlan can be found.
With the corpse, which was wrapped in a black plastic bag, was the head in a separate black bag. Less than two meters away the killers left a dead pig, which they had shot in the head.
The report of the Municipal Police indicated that the victim had not been identified, although authorities presumed that it was a kidnapping victim.
The Golden Zone restaurant where the body was dumped is El Habaleño, which was already closed at the time that the decapitated corpse and the pig were left. The previous Sunday afternoon, at the same location, two people were executed who went by the name of Guadalupe Núñez.
Another story here (horrible Google translation here) adds the charming detail that the killers, after dumping the headless body, carjacked a woman in a Lincoln to make their getaway.
Again, the headless body dump and the double murder all occurred Tuesday, oddly enough, the same day we were there.
I suppose the silence in English-language papers about the beheaded body in Mazatlan is no surprise. After all, in the very same AP story I quote above, it was reported that police had found seven hacked and mutilated corpses in the seaside tourist town of Acapulco the very same day. Three were found “dumped in a highway tunnel that leads into Acapulco’s tourist zone” with pieces of the bodies missing. Three more “bullet-ridden bodies” were found in the streets, and police “discovered a fourth body half-buried and lacking its head.”
Heck, even that wasn’t the lede of the story, which was primarily concerned with the discovery of a rural camp suspected to be operated by one of the cartels, containing “72 sticks of commercial synthetic explosives . . . 14 rifles, eight grenades,” and “more than 4,000 bullets.”
So I guess a single headless body with accompanying head is no big deal.
Except that it is. Because the violence continues, even after we tourists depart. And it has ripple effects.
The day after we left, gunmen sprayed a different tourist restaurant in Mazatlan with gunfire. That restaurant and three namesake restaurants were all closed. (Story here, horrible translation here.)
Although none of the victims of these crimes were tourists, the cruise lines have had enough. After the double murder, Carnival Cruise Lines immediately canceled a planned stop in Mazatlan, and Norwegian Cruise Lines canceled its Mazatlan stop for the season. And that was, ostensibly, only because of the murders at the hotel. Never mind the headless body or the restaurant shooting the next day.
This means that the nice fellow with the easy sense of humor who ran our little boat outing in the estuaries is going to have a much harder time finding guests for his excursion, with fewer cruise ships coming into town. And he, his son, and the other good people of this little city will continue to live in an atmosphere of increasing and constant violence.
And all this is a picnic compared to Juarez.
Mexico is a great place, huh?
UPDATE: I should note that I obtained several links from a very interesting blog called The Fulano Files. The proprietor appears to keep a close watch on Mexican violence. I will likely be citing this blog again.
Puerto Vallarta was really nice though.
And we ziplined! Even my 8 year-old son ziplined!
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:11 amI was the thinking. All these headless bodies being found in Mexico: the Gathering has begun. It would make sense that it is at some ancient Mayan temple, and not in New York City like those silly movies claimed.
There can be only one!
Xmas (a79637) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:13 amAlso we saw whales in the Cabo San Lucas. So it wasn’t all just escaping being present for shootings and beheaded bodies being dumped.
But which one makes for a more interesting blog post is what I would ask you.
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:14 amHey, you snuck that comment in there in between mine.
I might have to look up those references.
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:20 amHighlander. 😉
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:23 amOh. I think I sort of slept through most of that.
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:28 amYou just lost 5 cool-points. Quick, make a 3 Stooges reference to recover.
I used to enjoy Mexico and traveling. Sounds like any more will be even farther in the future than I anticipated. Glad you made it back safely.
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:36 amAlso, I guess there is no such thing as a non-smoking room on these cruise ships.
Jesus. Smokers don’t realize how they permanently ruin a room for all subsequent people.
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:37 amHow many cool points does that smoking comment lose me?
I think I’m about to find out . . .
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:38 amI remember the last time I tried to point out to smokers how disgusting their habits are to others.
It did not go well. Apparently conservatives are supposed to be big fans of ruining other people’s enjoyment with cigarette smoke. Something about FREEDOM or something.
*Ducks*
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:40 amObama is a smoker!
So if you support smoking, you support HIM.
I think I found a winning argument.
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:42 amComment-bait? Taking tips from Allah? Just tie in Palin or DNA statistics somehow… proven winners.
😛
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:46 amAnd don’t forget the “integral to the story” cheesecake photo. Doesn’t always generate comments, but reliable for page views.
Heh.
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:50 amDNA statistics show that Sarah Palin sometimes looks really hot in a bikini, like THIS:
[insert photo, laugh way to bank]
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:58 amWell-played Sir, indeed. 🙂
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:59 am________________________________________
Mexico is a great place, huh?
Oh, most certainly. That’s why we should be ecstatic — thrilled beyond belief — that our neighbor to the south is a window into America’s future. Because if the US can’t come to Mexico, Mexico will come to the US.
So a big shout out and lots of thanks to limousine liberals throughout the US—and one does not have to be wealthy to be guilty of that type of two-faced behavior.
Mark (411533) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:26 amNow we know where Chris Hooten and imdw went!
Icy Texan (53dae7) — 2/27/2011 @ 2:19 amI can forgive you on that. Highlander is a cool movie for teenage boys…it really doesn’t hold your attention if bad editing and voice synching annoy you.
But the Queen soundtrack has it’s good bits. (What’s with them and Sci Fi movies anyway)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZQUVZKrH3I
Xmas (a79637) — 2/27/2011 @ 2:46 amHere in Atlanta we had an illegal go to the Police complaining about another illegal screwing his illegal wife. Or maybe it was the illegal boyfriend who was screwing the illegal wife who went to the cops, hard to tell with what passes for reporting in the Atlanta Urinal & Constipation, then it turned out the illegal boyfriend murdered the illegal wife/husbands 2 young muchachos, except it turned out it was the husband all along, and yes, it’ll be a “Law & Order” episode within 3 months. What I wanta know is
WHY AREN’T ILLEGAL’S AFRAID TO GO TO THE POLICE????
Shi*, I’ve lived here 40 years, no record to speak of, and I’d only call the Cops if I really had to, like if there was a body in my living room, and I couldn’t dispose of it discretely.
Oh yeah, BOTH illegal dudes ended up in jail for a time anyway, the one who didn’t kill the kids had some outstanding drug warrants, but the one who really did(allegedly) kill the kids ske-dadled back to May-he-co.
Or maybe it was some other hardworking illegal who ab-sconded, hard to tell with something like this happening allmost every day…
Frank
Frank Drackman (550e6d) — 2/27/2011 @ 3:54 amThat’s funny, here in the states, people located a bunch of Wisconsin state senators without testicles in Illinois, and the press was all over the story.
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 2/27/2011 @ 5:55 amThe google translation isn’t nearly as horrible as I’d expect. Their technology seems to be improving.
This stuff really bums me out. I was going to Guadalajara a lot last year, and the drug wars had come all the way down to Jalisco state, where a lot of marijuana is grown.
carlitos (01d172) — 2/27/2011 @ 6:57 amPat, I’m glad that you are home safe and enjoyed your stay in Puerto Vallarta. If you go into the interior of Mexico again, fly over the border region and start your trip in PVR.
kenseica (052e7b) — 2/27/2011 @ 8:24 am==the press was all over the story==
daley-what did you expect? Fleeing Wisconsin senators bravely protecting workers’ rights fits the narrative soo much better than stories about a neighboring country literally being taken over by thugs, drugs and violence all of which are being exported across the border into the US.
elissa (320342) — 2/27/2011 @ 8:28 amDon’t forget that the NYT is partially owned by a Mexican media mogul. Can’t be publishing articles that might scare off the tourista $$$
They probably issued a blanket hold order on the new journolist ordering none of the MSM to cover this sort of thing.
BK
agesilaus (3b823f) — 2/27/2011 @ 8:34 amMexico is a mess, if I have to go to the northern part I feel ready to duck and cover at any stray noise. The police seem to stop more people right before lunch to get some lunch money. but…
I’d say the only thing separating Mexico from the usa is a not very big difference in income, as income goes down in the usa, the cartels operating on the us side of the border will start to operate openly.
joe (a3e328) — 2/27/2011 @ 8:51 am(there has to be the same crime structure north of the border, those drugs don’t import themselves.)
I’m impressed with how skilled the Mexican police have gotten at recovering and reassembling dead bodies.
Preventing their occurrence: not so much.
Socratease (d1ebaf) — 2/27/2011 @ 8:59 amThirty years ago, Mazatlan was a great place to visit and there was a yacht race from Los Angles to the city. Puerto Vallarta still has a lot of cruising sailors and Zihuatenejo is a big jumping off place for the south Pacific. Lots of cruising sailors on the west coast of Mexico but nobody goes inland. Now, it seems even that is not enough to stay safe.
Mike K (8f3f19) — 2/27/2011 @ 9:08 ampig shot in the head
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/27/2011 @ 9:30 amwasted somewhere a lover
of carnitas weeps
Patterico
Sure, its all just a coincidence that a head was found there and it belonged to Charles Johnson?
https://patterico.com/2011/01/24/charles-johnson-impotently-tries-to-threaten-my-job/
(And for the really slow–such as anyone who believes anything said at LGF these days–that is an absurdist joke.)
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 2/27/2011 @ 10:11 amFrom “Borderland Beat” on Saturday:
AD-RtR/OS! (7c5a79) — 2/27/2011 @ 10:47 amFour bodies “arranged” on a primary round-about in Nuevo Laredo;
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/02/4-decapitated-men-left-on-display-in.html…
plus, a lot more from TJ today.
Comment by carlitos — 2/27/2011 @ 6:57 am
Jalisco was always (well, at least back in the 60’s-70’s) as the center of the Mexican drug enterprise.
AD-RtR/OS! (7c5a79) — 2/27/2011 @ 10:51 amI’m still wondering how far we are from the next Columbus, New Mexico. A whole century? Or just 96 years …
SPQR (26be8b) — 2/27/2011 @ 11:10 amthe Katrina and teh Waves singed a song about Mexico they didn’t say nuffin about no heads but this was in the 80s so I dunno
happyfeet (ab5779) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:07 pmMr. Feets – There was also an American rock band called the Talking Heads in the 1970s and 1980s, plus a little early 1990s, so I don’t think the missing heads were involved with their music cuz it was like way earlier. Just thinking out loud.
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:32 pmThat is a very good point which reminders me that Murray Head is unaccounted for and I fear the worst
happyfeet (ab5779) — 2/27/2011 @ 12:38 pmMr. Feets – Cautions certainly seems to be the order of the day. Don’t lose your marbles over this, I am now wondering about Max.
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:02 pmcolonel think safe to
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:15 pmsay that Mexico heading
in wrong direction
colonel pick of day
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:17 pmtry tacos de cabeza
they are to die for
haiku remember
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:19 pmgood old days of tequila
and nostril candy
I appreciate your literary efforts Colonel H.
elissa (320342) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:22 pmLemmon and Remick
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:23 pmthe days of lines and noses
regrets I got few
elissa always
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:27 pmknow right thing to say and she
most generous gal
Mexico is getting to the point where I am almost (that’s the weasel word for when someone accuses me of being a fascist) willing to support the imposition of a strongman — a la Franco, Pinochet, or Trujilo — even with all the extra-judicial killings and crack-down on human rights that it would probably entail. I don’t say that lightly, but Mexico has otherwise become such a cesspool with effects that are spilling over to our side of the border that I don’t see any other way out for them.
JVW (1a2602) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:36 pmthe days of lines and noses
AWESOME!
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 2/27/2011 @ 1:47 pmWhat we need to do to fix Mexico is invade, force the current ruling class into permanent exile and have the UN make Mexico a US protectorate while we build a modern infrastructure. (both political and physical) There is no reason why Mexico can’t be a modern, successful, first world nation, except its current ruling class.
gahrie (8d0eed) — 2/27/2011 @ 2:20 pmIf we got serious about closing the border – and I mean CLOSING! – the lack of the ability to export their excess population, the end of money coming south from their expats in El Norte, the end of the drug trade Dollar-flow (some of our “high-flyers” would have to go “cold turkey” or emigrate – which would force us to deal with a systemic problem we have), would force Mexico to face, and deal in a realistic manner, with the problems that have faced that society throughout its history.
AD-RtR/OS! (7c5a79) — 2/27/2011 @ 3:01 pmUPDATE: I should note that I obtained several links from a very interesting blog called The Fulano Files. The proprietor appears to keep a close watch on Mexican violence. I will likely be citing this blog again.
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 3:28 pmNayarit State just north of Puerto Vallarta is nice… from Sayulita past San Pancho to Lo de Marcos.
I like the preemptive “I was no where near.. and that is not my machete” excuse from the prosecutor.
The drug gangs seem to be trying to hurt the Mexican government by hitting tourism.
SteveG (cc5dc9) — 2/27/2011 @ 4:47 pmI don’t know what their end game is…
Patrick, welcome home. If I’d known you were going to Mexico I’d have had you in my prayers. And you’re excited by whale watching? When you live on the Pacific coast? I recommend a dude ranch vacation next time. Friends of mine did it – great family event – American (non-smoking) hotel standards – good fresh air and exercise – the only shooting is if you choose to take a hunting option.
Gesundheit (aab7c6) — 2/27/2011 @ 7:51 pmI support a persons right to smoke and i don’t support obama.
So Patterico why don’t you go and kick Charles Johnson’s balls.
DohBiden (984d23) — 2/27/2011 @ 9:35 pmI support a persons right to smoke and i don’t support obama.
So Patterico why don’t you go and kick Charles Johnson’s balls.
DohBiden (984d23) — 2/27/2011 @ 9:35 pmI denounce any such thought as violent threats up with which I will not put!
Patterico (c218bd) — 2/27/2011 @ 10:04 pmI took the exact same cruise – Norwegian star, Mexican Riviera – in November of 2008. In Mazatlan, we rode a bus out to a tequila factory with ziplines; we ziplined through the canopy and then got a tour of the distillery, with a tasting after.
When we got back to Mazatlan, my husband and our friends (four of us had gone together) went back to the boat, and I just walked around Mazatlan for an hour or so. I actually kind of liked the city; it’s somewhat disappointing to hear this news.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 2/28/2011 @ 10:34 am“So Patterico why don’t you go and kick Charles Johnson’s balls.”
question of the day
ColonelHaiku (b9ab95) — 2/28/2011 @ 5:11 pmby strange coinky dinky
that none could be found