DATE=1/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NARCO GRAVES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258274
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT=
INTRO: The search for bodies in clandestine graves
near the US/Mexico border has now come to an end.
Mexican officials say only nine bodies were found,
seven of which have been tentatively identified.
VOA's Greg Flakus has more from our Mexico City
bureau.
TEXT: Mexican officials say their investigation
confirms that the nine dead men they found in remote
locations near the border city of Ciudad Juarez were
victims of the drug cartel headed by the Amado Carillo
Fuentes family. However, they did not reveal the names
of any victims. Investigators say six of the dead men
had been bound with duct tape before being buried.
Four of the victims had been shot, but the cause of
death for the others has yet to be determined.
Forensic experts from the U-S Federal Bureau of
Investigation, or FBI, worked with Mexican agents at
the site, under a special invitation from the Mexican
government. The remains were examined at an FBI lab
across the border in the city of El Paso, Texas, but
the bodies are now back in Mexico.
When the investigation began in late November it drew
great media attention because an FBI official said
that as many as 100 bodies could be buried at the
sites near Juarez. This was based on an informant's
tip and the fact that more than 100 people have
disappeared in the El Paso/Juarez area in the past few
years.
But Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo says the
number of bodies found is not the most important
aspect of this investigation.
/// Madrazo act (Spanish) ///
He says he will not say if nine bodies are a lot or a
few. What he says is important is that these remains
show the level of brutality and violence of which the
criminal organizations are capable.
Mr. Madrazo says his agents have detained five people
in connection with the investigation but he provided
no further details. He also says investigators found
a drug laboratory at one of the ranches where bodies
were buried.
Investigators believe the bodies found near Juarez
were the result of turf battles between drug smuggling
organizations. They also believe many of the people
who disappeared in the area in recent years were
victims of drug wars but they decline to speculate on
where or when those bodies may be found. (Signed)
NEB/PT
20-Jan-2000 19:26 PM EDT (21-Jan-2000 0026 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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