AK47 and silencer among haul of gaudy weaponry confiscated from Mexican drug lords
By James White
Death tolls continues to rise in merciless drug war
In a country as lawless as Mexico, it seems fitting that top crime lords want to show off their ill-gotten wealth.
So what better way than getting their hands on a gold-plated assault rifle, together with some diamond-encrusted handguns?
These were the gaudy weapons found by security services during a raid on a farm near Guadalajara, central Mexico.
Showing off: A gold-plated AK47 automatic rifle and a gold-plated silencer were among the haul of weaponry displayed by police in Guadalajara, Mexico
The haul also included a patterned gold-plated silencer for the rifle, an AK47.
Officers showed off drugs and stolen police equipment recovered during the raid as they battle to turn the tide against drug cartels which have plunged the country into chaos.
More than 28,000 people - many of them completely innocent - have died in the past four years as rival gangs struggle to control the lucrative cocaine trade.
President Felipe Calderon declared a war on drugs in 2006 but has come in for severe criticism over the appalling numbers of killings which have include mass murders and the shooting of babies.
This week has seen a rash of decapitations and other gruesome killings in the border city of Tijuana since the President visited it last week, declaring it a success in his war.
Three headless bodies were found hanging from their feet, while a human head was found in a bag in an unconnected case.
Gaudy: A gold-plated Colt Super 38 Automatic handgun was recovered by security services in the desperate battle against Mexican drug cartels
In total 16 people have been killed in the city since Sunday - a surge from the normal rate of 'just' two killings per day.
Some resident feared the cartels were trying to send a message just as the city is trying to promote itself to the outside world.
Calderon last week inaugurated 'Innovative Tijuana,' a two-week festival featuring discussions on aerospace, auotomotives and other industries that drive the city's economy.
Former Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to give a speech about the environment as part of the festival today.
'Obviously, they don't want it to seem like we are a society of good people. That's why they are doing these things again,' said Victoria Perez Bernal, a retired dentist who along with 2,000 others attended the inauguration of the festival last week.
'But what they don't know is that people are tired of this and we are starting to get organised.'
Killings: Six prison guards were murdered in the northern city of Chihuahua, Mexico, on Wednesday as they travelled to work
Violence peaked in Tijuana in 2008 amid a showdown between two crime bosses - Fernando 'The Engineer' Sanchez Arellano and Teodoro 'El Teo' Garcia Simental, a renegade lieutenant who rose through the ranks by dissolving bodies in vats of lye.
Garcia was arrested last January. While killings have continued, the most gruesome displays of cartel violence - decapitations, hangings and daylight shootouts - had subsided.
That sort of violence has continued to plague other cities in Mexico's northern states of Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
Grim: Locals look at the headless body of a man found in Tijuana, just one of many killings in the city
In Chihuahua state yesterday, six prison guards were killed while driving to work in Chihuahua city, the state's capital, authorities reported.
In the northern state of Sinaloa, two police officers were killed when gunmen ambushed their patrol in Mazatlan.
It was the second ambush of police in Sinaloa this week - eight officers were killed Monday when gunmen opened fire on their patrol cars.
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