Mexico: 37 bodies discovered in Nuevo Laredo, of which 9 (5 men and 4 women) with signs of torture were hanging from highway overpass and 14 were headless

Five of nine corpses are seen hanging from a bridge in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state, early morning on May 4, 2012. The bodies of four women and five men were found hanging off a bridge in Nuevo Laredo with an apparent message from a criminal gang, an army official said Friday. The bodies showed signs of beating and torture and 'we believe they were members of a criminal gang,' the official said, declining to be named. (Getty Images)

Four of nine corpses are seen hanging from a bridge in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state, early morning on May 4, 2012. The bodies of four women and five men were found hanging off a bridge in Nuevo Laredo with an apparent message from a criminal gang, an army official said Friday. The bodies showed signs of beating and torture and 'we believe they were members of a criminal gang,' the official said, declining to be named. (Getty Images)

MEXICO CITY (LAT) -- Another 23 bodies were discovered Friday in the embattled border city of Nuevo Laredo, including five men and four women hanging from a highway overpass, authorities said.

The grisly surge in violence in Nuevo Laredo, across the river from Laredo, Texas, appears to be part of a battle between Mexico's two largest drug-trafficking gangs for control of the important land corridor.

The nine bodies dangling from the overpass were bloody, some were blindfolded, and, according to authorities, they bore signs of torture. The victims carried no identification but appeared to be between 25 and 30 years old, the state prosecutor's office said.

A banner hanging alongside them contained a profanity-laden message in which one drug gang, possibly the Zetas, threatens to eliminate another for "heating up the plaza" -- that is, provoking the kind of violence that could attract federal troops.

The Zetas have controlled the area, but a faction of the powerful Sinaloa cartel is moving to challenge them and is believed responsible for a car bomb detonated outside police headquarters last month.

Also Friday in Nuevo Laredo, 14 headless bodies were found in black garbage bags in a truck parked outside a government customs building, authorities said. The heads were later found in three ice chests near City Hall. All of these dead were men, also between the ages of 25 and 30. Similarly, a little more than two weeks ago, 14 other dismembered bodies were found near City Hall.

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