Nine missing students are found dismembered with a bag of hands in suspected cartel bloodbath after vanishing on vacation in Mexico tourist hotspot

Mexico media reports allege these were not students, but members of a crime game called ‘Los Zacapoaxtlas’

Allegedly, they had invaded the Oaxaca coast and unleashed a crime wave until their luck ran out

Five of the nine mutilated bodies were found underneath a blood-soaked tarp, the other four were found contorted inside the trunk

Eight of the nine victims so far identified as Angie Lizeth Pérez García, 29, Brenda Mariel Salas Moya, 19, Jacqueline Ailet, 23, Noemí Yamileth López Moratilla, 28, Lesly Noya Trejo, 21, Raúl Emmanuel González Lozano, 28, Ruben Antonio, and Rolando Armando

Alleged mastermind, former Mayoral candidate Jose Alfredo L. C., aka ‘El Jocha’, was found shot dead in a car on Sunday at a different location

Police said the criminal gang called El Jocha when they were cornered at their hotel hideout on Feb 27

No suspects have been named but the nature of the killing suggests cartel involvement, authorities said

Gruesome: The mutilated remains of nine people who vanished in southern Mexico, discovered in trunk of Volkswagen abandoned on a bridge in on a bridge in San Jose Miahuatlan in the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca

The bodies of nine people who vanished in southern Mexico last month have been found brutally hacked apart and dumped on a highway alongside a bag filled with their severed hands. 
The horrifying remains were discovered on Sunday February 2, inside the trunk of Volkswagen car abandoned on a bridge in San Jose Miahuatlan, about 175 miles from Mexico City, on the border of the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca.
Five of the nine mutilated bodies were found underneath a blood-soaked tarpaulin, while the remaining four were found contorted inside the trunk.
Each person had their hands chopped off and stuffed in a bag that was also forced into the trunk already filled with bodies. 

The students’ bodies were discovered inside the trunk of an deserted car in San Jose Miahuatlan, on the border of the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca. Law enforcement [photo],search the deserted car in San Jose Miahuatlan containing mutilated bodies

Initial reports suggested the victims were students, originally from Tlaxcala, who had traveled to the beaches in Oaxaca for vacation. However, a report published by Mexican outlet NVI Noticias claimed the students were in fact members of a criminal gang who called themselves ‘Los Zacapoaxtlas’.
According to local police sources the missing nine, all recruited from Tlaxcala were told they were going to the Oaxaca coast to work and earn some money. On arrival they were integrated with an existing criminal network.
The Zacapoaxtlas modus reportedly, was to send a WhatsApp group message to their targets, signaling their mission. Their message, ….’We are coming …. don’t make noise’ clearly defining their intentions.
Arriving the Oaxaca coast, in early February, the gang established an operations center from where they embarked on a string of assaults, theft and violent robberies.
The crime spree was going well ‘until they messed with the wrong person’, local law enforcement said.
The catalyst to their demise according to reports was a February 14, heist at Santander Bank in Santa Cruz Huatulco. On February 27, investigators tracked the gang to their hideout at a hotel and arrested the gang members.
Police said messages in recovered digital devices showed that the criminals when cornered called a local, whom cops allege was a former mayoral candidate Jose Alfredo L. C., aka ‘El Jocha’.
Days later later on morning of Sunday March 2, the dismembered bodies of five men and four women were discovered in a dark grey Volkswagen, abandoned on the Calapa bridge in San Miahuatan, Puebla, Periodico Central reports.

Alleged mastermind – former Mayoral candidate Jose Alfredo L. C., aka ‘El Jocha’ [photo], was found shot dead in a car on Sunday, in San Miguel del Puerto, Pochutla. Police said the criminal gang called him when they were cornered at their hotel hideout on Feb 27

Mexican media outlets have identified eight of the nine victims so far, naming them as Angie Lizeth Pérez García, 29, Brenda Mariel, 19, Jacqueline Ailet, 23, Noemí Yamileth López Moratilla, 28, Lesly Noya Trejo, 21, Raul Emmanuel, 28, Ruben Antonio, and Rolando Armando. 
The ninth victim has not yet been identified. 
Later Sunday, alleged mastermind Jose ‘El Jocha’ Alfredo was found shot dead in a car in the Canta Rena neighborhood of Copa de Barralita, in San Miguel del Puerto, Pochutla. Police said a narco message pinned to the body read, ‘that’s whats going on you thief’.
No suspects have been named, but the nature of the killing suggests cartel involvement, authorities said. 
Police said they have tracked down surveillance footage from February 24 showing the vehicle driving along the Atlixcayotl highway near the town of Atlixco about 90 miles west of the spot where the corpse laden car was abandoned.

Five of the nine missing students’ remains were found underneath a blood-soaked tarp, while the remaining four were found inside the trunk. Pictured: Onlookers capture the scene unfolding along the side of the high-trafficked Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca highway

Five of the nine students were men. Four were women, including Jacqueline Ailet Meza Cazares, [photo], all believed to be aged 19 to 30 years old

Among the five males was Raúl Emmanuel González Lozano, [photo], 28

Authorities tracked down surveillance footage from Feb. 24, showing the vehicle driving along the Atlixcayotl highway near the town of Atlixco about 90 miles west of where the remains of the students, including 19-year-old Brenda Mariel Salas Moya, [photo], were found

Noemi Yamileth Lopez Moratilla, [photo], 28, was one of the female members of the criminal gang who escape during a police raid on the hotel where they were holed up, only to turn up dismembered

29-year-old Angie Lizeth Pérez García [photo], was among the nine alleged gangster found killed and dismembered in the abandoned car on Sunday in .

Lesly Noya Trejo, [photo], 21, was among the robbery gang killed in a reprisal attack in the state of Puebla, Mexico on Sunday March 2

Mexican outlet NVI Noticias claimed the victims were members of the ‘Los Zacapoaxtlas’ criminal gang 

Police in Puebla said messages found on digital devices recovered during the raid on the gang’s hideout connected the group to the crimes attributed to them

The Puebla State Attorney General’s Office is unable to divulge any additional information, citing confidentiality concerns.
‘So far I cannot offer information. There are lines of investigation, but I cannot reveal them due to confidentiality,’ Idamis Pastor Betancourt, head of Puebla’s State Attorney General’s Office, said at a press conference Monday.
‘All relevant investigations are being carried out. 
‘When we have a response and the investigation is complete, we will be in a position to provide more information,’ he added.
Over 30,000 murders were committed in Mexico in 2023, according to the most recent figures.
Many of the slayings were tied to drug trade, with cartel hits leading to particularly gruesome scenes.