Family Slashed to Death in Mexico

A couple, their two teenaged children and a friend were slashed to death in the Mexican city of Zapopan, police said Sunday.

Police found "the remains of five people, two adults and three minors" all of whom had had their necks slashed, Ernesto Ramos, police commander in the city of 1.2 million, told AFP.

Neighbors heard screaming early Sunday and spotted a van that sped away from the victims' home, police said. The family were fruit vendors, local media reported.

An investigation is underway to determine who is to blame.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Mexico since December 2006 when the federal government launched a major national anti-drug operation.