Mexican mayor ‘decapitated by drug gangs’ six days into job

The mayor of a Mexican city plagued by gang violence has been murdered less than a week after taking office.

Photos circulating online showed what appeared to be the severed head of Alejandro Arcos on top of a pick-up truck and the rest of his body inside a car in the Villas del Roble neighborhood in the east of Chilpancingo.

Mr Arcos was sworn in as the mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero province, last Monday. His death was confirmed by the authorities late on Sunday.

Local media reported that he had been decapitated, but state prosecutors offered no details when confirming his death.

The death provoked unease across Chilpancingo, which is no stranger to political violence, with residents choosing not to leave their homes after 9 pm and schools suspending classes.

Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, called on the federal authorities to take charge of the investigation given Guerrero’s “ungovernability.”

Mr Moreno also revealed that Mr Arcos’s murder came just three days after the shooting of Francisco Tapia, the city government’s new secretary.

“They had been in office less than a week,” Mr Moreno said. “They were young and honest public servants seeking progress for their community.”

Chilpancingo has been home to violent turf battles between the Ardillos and the Tlacos, local drug gangs, for years.

The city is so violent that the Ardillos gang once organized a demonstration, hijacked an armored government car, and took 10 police officers hostage after its leaders were arrested for drugs and weapons possession.

Mr Arcos’s social media posts reveal that he had spent his first few days in office overseeing disaster relief after Hurricane John caused severe flooding in Acapulco, the beach resort, and its surrounding towns.

He had also spent time meeting relief workers and residents in the hours before his death, according to photos on his Facebook account.