Juárez police officer's body discovered
By Adriana M. Chávez / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/15/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

A Juárez police officer was found dead early Saturday in a car with New Mexico license plates outside an old Juárez school building.

Police said César Ricardo Bustamante, 37, was found about 3 a.m. in a maroon Lincoln outside the former Escuela De Mejoramiento Social, or school for social improvement, building.

Bustamante was assigned to the department's Delicias district.

Police said 22 bullet casings, including some from .45-caliber and 9 mm handguns, were found at the scene. Investigators said Bustamante also had cuts on his face and arms.

Bustamante was one of three men found dead early Saturday on Juárez streets. About 12:15 a.m., police found a man in his early 40s outside of a school near Segunda Del Valle and Sonora streets in the Salvarcar neighborhood. His body had multiple bullet wounds.

Friday, Christian Javier Bañuelos Rivera, 30, was found shot to death outside of a 2004 Ford Lobo pickup near his home on Valle Celeste and Valle De Las Palmas streets in the Nuevo Milenio neighborhood.

Police said a threatening note was found alongside Bañuelos' body signed by "La LÃ*nea," one of the warring drug cartels in Juárez, warning of future violence. Police also found 11 bullet casings around Bañuelos' body.

Witnesses told police that Bañuelos had been in his truck when he was approached by another vehicle. Police said that the person or people in the other vehicle told Bañuelos to get out of the truck and that then he was shot.

Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_9589342