http://www.themonitor.com

Deadly Trade
December 07,2005
Cari Hammerstrom
The Monitor


It has been more than a year since 82-year-old La Vern Huber was beaten to death, an innocent victim of what police suspect was rival drug cartel greed.

About 10 p.m. Aug. 14, 2004, Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies arrived at one of several houses located on the same property at 4 1/2 Mile Line and Taylor Road in Mission.

They found Huber in a pool of blood, with severe trauma to his face and body.

It was a home invasion gone deadly wrong.

At least two structures on the property were raided by a group of men wearing masks and black clothing with police insignia. They plundered there because, according to one witness, one of the houses once had been used to package cocaine, said Lt. Ricardo Enriquez, head of the robbery and homicide within the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department.

Stashed drugs are generally the reason for home invasions or pseudo-cop robberies, law enforcement officials say.

But Huber, who was renting the home â€â€