The head prosecutor of Jalisco state, Eduardo Almaguer, told the Milenio television network yesterday that the dead apparently were members of a gang and came from nearby communities. He said they were killed by their former criminal allies in the neighboring state of Michoacan on or around Sept 21.
The bodies of the 12 men and one woman were then apparently tossed into a river that feeds into the lake. They were found at the opposite end of the lake from the town of Chapala, popular among tourists and American retirees.
It appeared unrelated to Friday's attack on a military convoy in Sinaloa, which was likely launched to free a wounded drug suspect being transported in an ambulance guarded by the convoy.
In a speech Saturday, Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos used unusually harsh language to describe the attackers, who apparently used grenades to attack the army convoy.