Methods of Execution By Mexican Drug Cartels

Most murders come by shootings, but hanging a rival post-mortem in highly visible places functions to send a message regarding turf in disputed cities. These victims are frequently mutilated and show signs of abuse. The cartels are known to display these bodies on bridges and billboards. 

Beheading by Chainsaw

In the current trial for Sinaloa cartel leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, New York prosecutors will be submitting evidence that includes YouTube videos in which Guzmán systematically harmed and then removed the heads of rival gang members with a chain saw.

Face peeling has become a common practice as an effective scare tactic to rivals and would-be informants. In 2010, El Chapo recorded a video of himself removing the head of rival, Hugo Hernandez, with a chainsaw. Afterward, El Chapo removed Hernandez’s face and then affixed the victim's face to a soccer ball.

'The Stew'

Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, the alleged cartel leader of Los Zetas, reportedly executed perceived enemies of the cartel using the method of “The Stew,” or El Guiso. This execution style entailed taking live victims and putting them in a 55-gallon drum. Then Morales would either boil them or douse them in a flammable liquid and set them afire.

Acid Baths

Santiago Meza Lopez was also known as “The Soupmaker,” or El Polozero. Lopez confessed to dissolving over 300 bodies in acid baths for the Tijuana cartel. The procedure involved disposal of bodies by filling a drum with 200 liters of water and then adding two sacks of caustic soda. The solution would be put over a fire and when it started to boil, the bodies would be put in.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/01/24/joaquin-chapo-guzman-loera-trial-murder-torture-isaias-valdez-rios/2669945002/

https://www.ranker.com/list/brutal-execution-methods-used-by-mexican-drug-cartels/harrison-tenpas