Nine Corpses were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, North-Eastern Mexico this morning. The bodies had been tortured, handcuffed, and blindfolded before being strung up and left hanging from the bridge.

According to the Nuevo Laredo mayor, the victims were five men and four women who are thought to be members of the organised crime gang, the Gulf Cartel.

A note found with the bodies indicates Los Zetas, another notorious drug gang in Mexico, carried out the killings in retaliation. The note suggested that the victims had carried out a car bomb attack, which went off a few days ago outside the Public Safety Building in Nuevo Laredo.

Last month, 14 dismembered bodies were found in an abandoned truck in the same town.

Violence has heightened recently in the Tamaulipas region, which borders on Laredo, Texas. Officials say the violence is due to drug trafficking territory disputes between the two gangs. Los Zetas were originally part of the Gulf cartel, before they broke away in 2010.

Vicente Fox, the Mexican ex-president, came forward on Wednesday condemning the violence of the drug war, which he deemed an “absolute failure.” He suggested that other avenues to tackle drug trafficking should be explored, including legalisation.

In a meeting with foreign correspondents, Fox eluded to the “trap” Mexico is currently in, “paying the enormous price” caught between producer nations – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia – and consumer nations – the United States.

On asked about US cooperation if Mexico saw fit to move to legalisation, he responded that, “Mexico can do it without consulting the United States.”

A deadly riot between gangs left 44 dead on Sunday at a prison in Monterrey.

Jorge Domene, spokesman for state security, confirmed the deaths at a news conference.

“All of [the deceased] have been victimised by sharp and blunt objects,” he said, citing stones, clubs and sharp objects as the murder weapons.

The event came less than one week after a fire in Comayagua, Honduras killed more than 350 inmates, further fixing the spotlight on the dangerous overcrowding in many Latin American prisons.

According to local news reports, the Mexican prison was currently housing 3,000 inmates, but actual capacity was only built for 1,500. The three prisons in Monterrey jointly experience overcrowding rates of 36 percent.

The outbreak was originally thought to have been the result of a clash between two rival drug gangs at the penitentiary, the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. The two are cited as among Mexico’s most dangerous and powerful criminal organisations, and according to Digital ABC, relatives say the prison is “in the hands of Los Zetas.”

For this reason, authorities are not ruling out the possibility of the fight starting as a ruse to distract from a break out, and complacency among security guards on duty.

Preliminary investigations, Domene said, suggest there was a “plot with custodians.”

Local news sources report that the brawl began between 1:30 and 2:00 local time on Sunday, and that all those dead were inmates of the “Delta” or “D” room.

After the news was reported, around 400 friends and relatives of inmates surrounded the prison looking for information on their loved ones.