JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – Two new suspected acts of drug-related terror are being reported in the state of Chihuahua, where drug gangs continue to fight for territory and expanded drug sales.

In the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, neighbors of the Riberas del Bravo neighborhood near the Rio Grande alerted police to the body of a man lying on the side of the road. The officers discovered upon arrival that the body wrapped in blankets was missing its head. The head was found nearby inside a black plastic bag.

Juarez police told Border Report this is the third decapitated body they have found in the city this month, and Wednesday’s finding brings the total murders in July to 42. Police maintain most of the murders are drug-related and that dismembering is a tactic used by gangs to intimidate their rivals.

Several gangs associated with the Sinaloa cartel are known to operate in the southeastern part of the city and farming communities collectively known as the “Juarez Valley.”

Meantime, local news media reported the murder of five men and a woman inside a home in the Saguaro neighborhood of Chihuahua City late Tuesday. The victims were tied hand-and-foot and five were reportedly shot with 9mm guns; the sixth was apparently stabbed and strangled with a cable.

Border Report reached out to the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office for additional information and is awaiting a response.