Drug cartels leave 'calling cards'

MEXICO CITY, June 11 (UPI) -- Mexican drug cartels have been leaving messages with severed heads and bodies to emphasize the penalties for opponents, police say.

One was found with four heads left in coolers on a highway in Durango, the Los Angeles Times reported. The sign included a list of Mexican law enforcement agencies and drug dealers.

"This is a warning," the message said. "You get what you deserve."

The signs have become known as "narco-messages," the Times said.

In Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua, police found a hand-drawn sign with five bodies. The sign had a polite sign-off -- "Yours truly, La Linea."

But the body of the message was less courteous: "This is what happens to stupid traitors who take sides with Chapo Guzman."

That was a reference to Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who allegedly heads the cartel in Sinaloa the newspaper said.

Investigators say that cartels have posted footage of executions on YouTube.

"You didn't see that kind of stuff 13 years ago," a senior U.S. official told the Times. "It's more in-your-face."