The feet, still wearing black socks, were poking out of the blue suitcase[/caption]
A passer-by tipped off police in Mexico about a dead body after finding a pair of feet poking out the top of a suitcase.
The mutilated corpse had been stuffed into the blue case, which had been zipped up but the feet, wearing black socks, were still jutting out.
The grisly luggage was spotted dumped next to a house in Veracruz state on Mexico’s Gulf coast.
Police from the nearby town of Martinez de la Torre examined the body.
They found the unidentified man had been tortured and killed before his dismembered body was shoved inside the suitcase.
The Mexican police and army are currently carrying out a special operation against organized crime in the area.
The house where the body was found was in a heavily forested area which is a hotbed of organized crime
[caption id="attachment_45079" align="aligncenter" width="552"]
The suitcase was found next to a house in a heavily forested area, which is a hotbed of crime[/caption]
Armed gangs regularly use secluded woodland spots for criminal activities including executions.
There have been hundreds of unsolved disappearances in the eastern state of Veracruz, which comes under the control of the notorious Los Zetas, who broke away from the rival Gulf Cartel in 2010.
Los Zetas are considered by the US government to be ‘the most technologically advanced, sophisticated, efficient, violent, ruthless, and dangerous’ drug cartel operating in Mexico.
There are regular cases of extortion and kidnappings in Veracruz and more than a dozen journalists have been killed there over the past five years.
In December, the US Department of State warned citizens about the risk of traveling to certain parts of Mexico due to the activities of criminal organizations in those areas.
But there is currently no advisory in effect in Veracruz.
