The Tula massacre was a 1982

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

near the municipality of

Atotonilco de Tula Atotonilco de Tula is one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo. It is located in the central-southeastern part of the state of Hidalgo in Mexico. The municipal seat is Atotonilco de Tula. The municipality is located at a southern pass leading out ...

in the Mexican state of

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

, north of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, where 13 Colombian men were murdered. The incident resulted in a minor

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, uneth ...

, though no one was ever convicted in relation to the

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

Background

On 14 January 1982, the bodies of 13 men were found on the borders of a

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...

canal in the

Tula River The Tula River ( es, Río Tula) is a river in Hidalgo State in central Mexico, and a tributary of the Moctezuma River. Geography It runs through the city of Tula de Allende and begins as a drainage channel for the Valley of Mexico, which contai ...

. There was a doubt about the sexual identity of one of the victims, who could have been a woman dressed in men's clothing. The bodies showed signs of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

and

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to Bodily harm, severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunction ...

, some of them with their heads in plastic bags. Some were

decapitate Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

d, while others were slashed with

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

s, and most with a shot to the head. The facts of the massacre were denounced by J. Gonzales Gonzales, who accused his boss, Arturo Durazo Moreno, the then Mexico City Police chief, of being the intellectual author of the crime. Durazo was the chief of police in Mexico City during the administration of his friend,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 t ...

. The dead, apparently all Colombians, formed a band of criminals who were exploited by Durazo. Durazo allegedly hid them in jail and released them to rob banks repeatedly. It was said that Durazo decided to keep the loot and do away with the Colombians and their Mexican taxi driver, who also disappeared, last seen in June 1981 by his mother. It was said that the group were held in secret jails and the La Castañeda

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

, tortured and murdered them, and then dumped them into a sewer in Mexico City. Their decomposed remains were later fished out of the Tula River by a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

diving team. Durazo was considered to be corrupt, incompetent, and criminal. Portillo, put up with it because they were childhood friends. Durazo fled Mexico in 1982 following the election of a new president and investigations into police corruption. He returned some time later and died in August 2000 in

Acapulco, Guerrero Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

. The pictures of the 13 dead and partial information of the crime was published by '' ¡Alarma!'', an explicit Mexico City publication that deals in images of mutilated and deformed human bodies.

References

* {{coord missing, Hidalgo (state) 1982 murders in Mexico 1982 crimes January 1982 events January 1982 events in Mexico Massacres in 1982 Massacres in Mexico Political scandals in Mexico Crime in Hidalgo (state)