Feb. 27, 2008, 7:55PM
2 killed in Mexico-US border


© 2008 The Associated Press

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Gunmen shot and killed two men Wednesday at a gas station steps away from an international bridge in the border town of Palomas, across from Columbus, N.M., police said.

Javier Perez, 41, and Adrian Juarez, 25, were getting gas when the assailants, some wearing ski masks and traveling in two cars, pulled up and opened fire on their pickup truck, said Cesar Ramirez, a spokesman for state prosecutors.

Ramirez said investigators had made no arrests and were still trying to determine a motive for the killings.

The border state of Chihuahua, where Palomas is located, has been plagued by drug violence as Mexico's crackdown on its powerful cartels has stoked turf wars among traffickers that have been linked to hundreds of killings in the past two years.

Chihuahua authorities said Tuesday that investigators had found parts from at least nine bodies in a series of backyard pits at a house in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas and about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Palomas. During a raid on Jan. 25, they found 1,700 kilograms (3,740 pounds) of marijuana in the same house.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5576581.html