The Mexican state of Chihuahua was host to a grisly incident on February 14, 2021 when a shootout between rival factions of gunmen left five dead. On top of that, authorities found three severed heads on the hood of a truck after the gun fight.

This deadly shootout took place close to the town of Coronado, which is roughly 150 miles south of Presidio, Texas. The Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office revealed that state law enforcement found the bodies around three vehicles. One of the bodies was riddled with multiple bullets. 

The severed heads were put on the hood of a white Chevrolet Suburban that was severely damaged by gunshots. As of now, the victims’ identities and the motive behind the attack are still under investigation. 

Based on recent trends, WKRG reported that “for the past three years has seen a steep increase in violence” between proxy gunmen from the local La Linea cartel and Sinaloa cartels, which were likely involved in this incident. 

Incidents like these are becoming more common in Mexico as the country’s institutions deteriorate and it struggles to maintain order. One of the biggest policy failures of the post-Cold War era is America’s fixation with monster chasing in the Middle East and Eurasia, when right underneath it there are multitudes of countries filled with debilitating violence and drug trafficking that’s making its way up north.

A serious political entity would be more concentrated on its own sphere of influence and cleaning up its backyard than policing remote parts of the world. Such misplaced priorities continue in effect under the administration of Joe Biden and it will likely take a serious nationalist movement to get our border security policies right.