Mexican police (archive)
Mexican police (archive)iStock

In northern Mexico 5 members of the LBaron family were killed in an attack by a local drug cartel in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity.

The victims were part of a breakaway Mormon group that settled in Mexico several decades ago. Footage from the scene shows burnt out vehicles with other people reported as missing. The full extent of this crime is still unclear.

LeBaron family members were quoted as saying a large group of three mothers and 14 children had set off in a convoy of cars from Bavispe in Sonora state and were heading to La Mora in the neighboring state of Chihuahua.

They were ambushed by gunmen in Bavispe. A burnt-out bullet-proof SUV was later found by the side of the road with the remains of the victims.Some reports say more dead were found in another location, but some of the missing are believed to have survived.

The governments of Chihuahua and Sonora issued a joint statement saying that an investigation had been launched and additional security forces had been sent to the area.

The violent ambush will likely have international repercussions too as many of those killed were US citizens.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said he is employing a policy of non-violence and non-confrontation with the country's powerful cartels, but his critics accuse him of lacking any kind of coherent security strategy.

Pressure is growing on the government after an embarrassing episode last month when the police in Sinaloa released the son of the jailed drug lord, El Chapo Guzmán, after they were outgunned by his men.