Mexico’s descent into bloody lawlessness continued to intensify over the weekend, as another nine bodies were discovered in the border city of Tijuana—taking the body count to nearly 50 in just seven days—and the mayor of a popular tourist town was shot dead by hooded gunmen.

The violence comes amid a civil war between the drug cartels that control much of the country, exacerbated by an almost total collapse in police authority, a tanking economy, and a failed military crackdown by the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, whose power remains unrecognised by many following a disputed election two years ago.

In Tijuana this weekend, police discovered the bodies of five men who had been beaten and asphyxiated; the bodies of two men who had been beheaded (their heads were found in black bin bags nearby); and the bodies of another two men who had been shot dead near the primary school where 12 corpses, many with their tongues cut out, were discovered last week. A piece of cardboard left by the decapitated bodies read: “These are The Bricklayer’s people”—thought to be a reference to one of the warring leaders within the Arellano Felix drug cartel.

Last week, a message was found next to the tongue-less bodies which threatened the lives of “all of those who are with The Engineer”.

Mass beheadings, probably inspired by the tactics of Islamic extremists in Iraq, are now a common occurrence in Mexico’s drugs war.

In one notorious recent case, the heads of several decapitated men were rolled across the floor of a busy nightclub in Michoacan state.

The violence in Mexico has also taken on a more political element over recent weeks. In the resort town of Ixtapan de la Sal—known for its natural hot springs—the mayor was shot dead on Saturday by hooded figures with automatic weapons. Salvador Vergara was hit by at least 15 bullets while riding in his car. It is thought that the assailants belonged to Zetas, the much-feared armed wing of the Gulf Cartel based in northeastern Mexico, just south of Texas.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government continues to investigate a September 15 grenade attack that killed eight people and injured more than 100 during an Independence Day celebration in President Calderón’s home state of Michoacan. In the southern city of Oaxaca, four banners purportedly signed by the Gulf Cartel were hung from buildings over the weekend, blaming another a rival group, La Familia, for the atrocity. Police have already arrested three alleged Gulf Cartel hit men accused of throwing the grenades, and messages in the name of La Familia have blamed the Gulf Cartel for the attack.

Some 3,000 people have been killed in Mexico this year in drug-related violence—400 of them in the city of Tijuana alone—provoking mass street protests and fury at President Calderón’s government. Having failed with his military intervention, Mr Calderón is now attempting to pass strict anti-corruption legislation in an attempt to clean up the country’s 1,600 or so competing police forces, many of which provide protection for drug cartels. The police have also been responsible for carrying out kidnappings—of which there are an average of three to four a day, a higher rate than Iraq—including one shocking case in which a 14-year-old hostage was shot even after his wealthy businessman father paid the ransom.

Mexico’s problems have so far been a non-issue in the US elections, with much of the violence going unreported in the media, although some now fear the chaos will inevitably spread north of the border.

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