MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Mexican authorities found more than 20 bodies in several cars left around a major traffic intersection in the western city of Guadalajara, officials said on Thursday.
Local media reported the bodies were discovered in Mexico's second city alongside a message from drug cartels. The state attorney-general's office said there could be up to 23 dead.
Guadalajara is the capital of the state of Jalisco, home to mariachi music and tequila, and was long spared the beheadings and drive-by shootings that have marked Mexico's war against drugs in other regions.
Known as a stronghold of the Sinaloa cartel, headed by Mexico's most-wanted trafficker Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, Guadalajara saw a spike in killings as other gangs, including the Zetas, started to contest their dominance of the region.
The discovery of the bodies, which local media said were left 500 meters (546 yards) from the auditorium where the Guadalajara International Book Fair will be held from Saturday, follows the dumping of 16 burned corpses in the Sinaloan capital Culiacan on Wednesday.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed the army to crack down on powerful criminal gangs and some 45,000 people have died in the conflict since he took office.
Guadalajara, home to 4.5 million people, hosted athletes from 42 countries last month for the Pan American Games, which were not marred by security incidents.
The U.S. consulate in Guadalajara warned on February 3 of "a marked escalation of criminal activity". It banned U.S. government officials from traveling after dark between the city and its main airport and urged U.S. visitors to follow suit.
Guadalajara is not the only previously safe city to be drawn into the drug war: residents of eastern port of Veracruz were horrified by the dumping of scores of bodies at various points around the city in September and October.
Drugs violence has already engulfed the northern business hub of Monterrey, a city of similar size to Guadalajara, prompting some companies to freeze investment.
(Writing by Dave Graham; editing by Anthony Boadle)
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