A defiant message addressed to Mexico's federal government was found in a vehicle believed to have been used by the gunmen that killed five police officials and two secretaries in Acapulco, authorities said.
The written note was found in a Suburban van outside one of two houses searched by federal authorities after Tuesday's killings, an official said on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.
It read: "We could give a damn about the federal government, and this is proof"
It was an apparent reference to the shootings, the official said. Investigators also found weapons and military uniforms at the house, he said.
Agents of the federal Attorney General's Office searched the houses as they took control of the investigation into the brazen daylight killings of the seven officials and secretaries in two state police stations on the outskirts of Acapulco.
The killings by more than a dozen men, which witnesses said were videotaped by the assailants, took place despite about 7,000 federal troops sent to the Acapulco region last month by Mexican President Felipe Calderon to battle drug traffickers.
Federal authorities said on Wednesday they were investigating whether some of the slain officers had ties to drug traffickers, and whether the killings were meant to settle scores between the rival Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels.
Governor Zeferino Torreblanca told reporters he was aware of the message allegedly left by the attackers, but gave no further details.
Neighbors of the house where the note was found told police that in the past several weeks they had seen men arrive in luxury trucks and vans. They said they saw eight casually dressed men arrive in the vehicles and then leave on foot on Tuesday, the day of the killings.
At the other house, authorities found fragmentation grenades, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and military uniforms, as well as a sports utility vehicle and two cars.
Hotel owners and other business leaders in Acapulco have demanded officials do something to quell the violence in the city.
Mayor Felix Salgado told business leaders on Wednesday that authorities were patrolling the tourist zone and would "guarantee the safety of those who visit us."
"I hope this does not affect the tourist image," he said. "We realize that these events are unpleasant, but people know that they are separate events."
But on Thursday violence struck again. A security guard identified as Martin Morales was shot in the head by two men after he refused to hand over US$2,000 he was carrying into a money exchange business on the Costera Miguel Aleman tourist strip, police officials said. Morales was in serious condition on Thursday.
Also Thursday, assailants shot dead a former mayor and his mother in a nearby town.
German Adame and his mother were killed by gunmen in Atoyac de Alvarez, 80km northwest of Acapulco, a spokesman for the Guerrero state police said.
Calderon has promised to smash drug gangs who are blamed for more than 2,000 killings across Mexico last year.
On Thursday, he said he would soon send Congress a bill to overhaul the justice system to make it more effective at fighting organized crime.
"It's a battle that we have decided to fight and I'm certain that it is a battle that, although difficult, we will win for the benefit of future generations," he said
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