At least five children have been killed in Acapulco recently as a result of the escalating drug violence

The body of a 4-year-old girl has been discovered by police in Acapulco, where five children have been killed recently as a result of the country's bloody drug war. The latest underage victim was found with two bullet wounds – including one in her chest – in a car next to an older woman, believed to be her mother, who had been shot five times in the back. At least 15 murders have been reported in Acapulco in recent days, including a 2-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy who were gunned down along with their grandmother. Witnesses at the scene saw armed men pull out of six trucks and chase after a man who ran into a random house, where Carmela Benitez, 60, and Jesus Daniel Villa and Juan Uriel Luna – 2 and 6, respectively – died in a hail of bullets. Police had no word on the whereabouts of the man who was escaping his would-be assassins. The escalating violence in Acapulco has been attributed to the recent arrest of Benjamin Flores Reyes, aka “The Godfather” and the head of the city's drug cartel CIDA. With Flores Reyes out of the picture, rival drug gangs are now trying to stake their claim on the popular resort town. Although CIDA's main rival is the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, bodies have been popping up with notes attached to them by a third gang, the Sinoala Cartel. In nearby Tepic, Nayarit, another 4-year-old child, was killed, shot to death while sleeping in a van. His parents had left him there while attending a party.