Two Sentenced to 1,040 Years in Mass Murder Case in Mexico

A Mexican judge sentenced Friday two men to 520 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of 13 young people, a case that shocked the nation in 2013.

With this new sentence the two men have now accumulated a total of 1,040 years in jail time. The decision is based on the evidence presented by the general attorney’s office.

On May 26, 2013, eight young men and five women ranging between 16 and 34 years of age were kidnapped from a bar in the Mexico City tourist neighborhood known as "Zona Rosa."

Surveillance footage showed some of them being led to cars outside the after-hours bar. They were reported as missing people until their bodies were discovered in a mass grave covered with cement, lime and asbestos on the outskirts of Mexico City.

All of them came from the rough Tepito district of Mexico City and authorities concluded that their killing was related to ganag warfare in the area.

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The case known as “Bar Heaven” rocked Mexico City, considered a safe place in the violence ravaged country, with residents protesting and demanding authorities find the culprits.

A total of five people have been convicted for this crime, each receiving similar sentences. The sentence of life imprisonment does not exist in Mexico, but people facing charges of murder, kidnapping and rape may be sentenced to up to 100 years in prison for each crime.

Official figures suggest that more than 26,000 people have gone missing in Mexico over the past seven years with violence surging after the country's government declared a "war on drug cartels."