Severed head placed on top of his truck in gruesome display

A Mexican mayor suffered a horrific death when his severed head was left on the roof of his pickup truck and his body was left inside the vehicle.

Alejandro Arcos had just taken office six days before his assassination. He was elected mayor of the southwestern city of Chilpancingo, home to about 280,000 people.

Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch told reporters that Arcos did not ask for security details on the day of his killing, despite local reports that he requested additional protection.

“The mayor went to Petaquillas alone for a meeting,” he told Aljazeera. “We know he went to a specific meeting, he was unaccompanied, communication in the community was lost and the discovery (of his body) was made hours later.”

After his death, several photos emerged on social media, appearing to show Arcos’ headless body in the passenger seat of the truck, partially covered by a blanket, and his severed head on top of the truck’s roof.

His funeral took place on Monday.

“His loss is mourning for all of Guerrero society and fills us with outrage,” Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado wrote in a statement, according to Fox News Digital.

The national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Alejandro Moreno, said Arcos’ death followed the fatal shooting of the secretary of the new city government, Francisco Tapia, who was killed three days earlier.

“They had been in office for less than a week,” Moreno wrote on social media. “They were young and honest public servants who were looking for progress for their community.”

To investigate the murders of Arcos and Tapia, Moreno urged the federal attorney general’s office to take charge of the investigation, citing “the situation of ungovernability in Guerrero.”

Prior to his death, the 43-year-old made several social media posts describing his response after Hurricane Jogn tore through the area last month.

Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state, is known for its violence and has become one of the most dangerous states for aspiring and newly elected officials.

At least six political candidates were murdered in Guerrero in the run-up to the June 2 Mexican elections.

In the wake of Arcos’ murder, Harfuch stated on Tuesday that four mayors have requested protection.

Two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos, are engaged in violent turf wars, which have led to numerous gruesome murders and several high-profile scandals.

A former mayor was expelled from her party after a video emerged of her meeting with gang leaders in a restaurant.

In 2023, the Ardillos gang openly staged a demonstration, seized a government armored vehicle and took ten police officers and National Guard members hostage, along with three federal and state officials, to secure the release of their arrested associates , Fox said. News digital.

The demonstration lasted two days and blocked traffic between Mexico City and Acapulco.