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By KELIN DILLON

According to new information from Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection (SHCP) released on Monday, July 1, 19 people were left dead during a cartel-related dispute in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas over the weekend.

The deaths reportedly mainly belong to members of the Chiapas Cartel, who operate along the border of Mexico and Guatemala, and were purportedly carried out by the expanding ranks of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The security secretariat first became aware of the mass murder when a video of the incident and its victims’ bodies made its way to social media on June 28, leading to an investigation by the SHCP the following day that confirmed the events.

“The alleged perpetrators of the filming identify themselves as members of the Sinaloa Cartel and point to the victims as members of a criminal organization that allegedly operates between Chiapas and Guatemala,” the SHCP said on Monday evening.

“In the back of the dump truck, 15 males were found murdered by firearm, two more in its cabin, two on the side and one more, approximately 100 meters from the vehicle, which had large-caliber bullet impacts,” continued the security secretariat, noting that six of the victims were of Guatemalan origin. “Initial investigation reports a confrontation between the criminal groups of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Chiapas and Guatemala Cartel, who are fighting for criminal control of the border area.”

As a result of its findings, Mexico deployed 1,200 troops from the National Guard and Armed Forces to ramp up security along the southern border.