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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AFP) – Eighteen people have been killed in execution-style murders in Mexico since Sunday, in violence blamed on bloody feuds between rival drug cartels, officials said.

The grisly discoveries came as US President Barack Obama visited Mexico on Monday, tracing a spotlight on the country's war against drug gangs transporting cocaine from Andean nations to the United States, the world's largest consumer.

In the northern state of Chihuahua, which borders the United States, local prosecutors said a decapitated body was found in the center of the state capital. Elsewhere in the city three more bodies were discovered.

Across the state, 14 other people were found killed since Sunday, including 10 in the frontier city of Ciudad Juarez.

During his trip, Obama praised the Mexican government's crackdown on the cartels, which has prompted a surge in violence as drug traffickers hit back at security forces and vie for lucrative smuggling routes to the United States.

"I heartily compliment President (Felipe) Calderon and his government for their determination and courage in taking on these cartels," Obama said in Guadalajara, adding that his host had pledged to respect human rights in the war on drugs.

Since December 2006, Calderon's government has deployed 36,000 troops across the country to fight the cartels, as police struggled to match the heavily armed and well-funded cartels.

Washington has pledged 1.4 billion dollars to aid Mexico's battle against the cartels, but 100 million dollars of the money has been delayed over criticism of Mexico's record in the US Congress.

The Washington-based lobby group Human Rights Watch called on Calderon to clamp down on military abuse and punish those responsible.

But the Mexican leader earned praise from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who also took part in Monday's summit.

"I think both our populations in Canada and the United States have to recognize the dedication and the courage of President Calderon and his government in taking on these drug cartels," Harper told US television station ABC.

"Quite frankly, President Calderon and his people are undertaking great personal risks to themselves in going after these cartels and traffickers so vigorously," Harper said.

But the scale of the Mexico's fight was evident.

In Mexico City, the police reported they had foiled a plot by the Sinaloa cartel to kill Calderon, and had the suspected hit man in custody.

In another development, security officials said they had uncovered a cache of cartel weapons in Jalisco, near Guadalajara -- the summit venue.

"Among the secured (items) were two 37 millimeter grenade launchers," the secretariat for public security said, adding that a haul of arms and 1,300 bullets were also discovered.

Federal prosecutors announced they had captured a senior member of the Gulf Cartel, which controls much of Mexico's Gulf coast.

Juan Daniel Carranco is suspected of being behind an October 2008 attack on the US consulate in Monterrey, northern Mexico.

An estimated 9,600 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2008, according to official figures and press reports.





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