MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Mexican police found 11 bodies inside a van in a suburb of the port city of Veracruz in southeast Mexico, apparently killed by gang fighting, officials reported on Wednesday.
Police discovered the white van parked on a street in the city's southern suburb around midnight Tuesday.
The van had been stolen from an employee of a tourism company, Governor of Veracruz State Miguel Angel Yunes said in a radio interview, adding "the person it was stolen from has already been located."
Yunes also said the killings were the result of "a war between themselves," referring to drug trafficking organizations that have used the busy port as a shipping and distribution center.
The perpetrators had left a threatening hand-scrawled message in the back of the van, purportedly directed at a rival criminal ring.
"It is a clash between organized gangs of criminals," the governor said.