Thread: 3 bodies, 1 headless, found in ditch in Mexico

3 bodies, 1 headless, found in ditch in Mexico

By OLIVIA TORRES, The Associated Press
2:15 p.m. July 21, 2009

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Three bodies, one of them headless, were found floating in an irrigation ditch Tuesday in a northern Mexican border city where drug violence has spiked despite the presence of thousands of soldiers.

Firefighters fished the bodies from the ditch in Ciudad Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso, Texas. One of the bodies was decapitated, while the other two were found with their heads wrapped in packing tape, according to a city fire department report. All three had signs of torture – a trademark of drug gang violence.

The federal government deployed 5,000 extra troops to Ciudad Juarez in an attempt to restore security to one of Mexico's most dangerous cities. Homicides initially dropped sharply, only to quickly resurge: More than 800 people have been killed this year, a rate similar to last year.

President Felipe Calderon has sent tens of thousands of soldiers and federal police across the country to crush Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.

But the strategy has failed to quell brutal drug violence, which has claimed more than 11,000 lives since Calderon took office in December 2006.

Another tortured body, gagged and stuffed in a plastic bag, was found in the Gulf state of Veracruz, municipal police spokeswoman Laura Leon said Tuesday. Police found the man's body just before midnight Monday in the city of Boca del Rio.

The Mexican navy, meanwhile, seized two speedboats containing 8.3 tons of cocaine off of the coast of southwestern Oaxaca state, according to a navy statement released Tuesday.

Five crew members – three Mexicans and two Colombians – were arrested in Monday's operation, assisted by U.S., Guatemalan and Belizean authorities.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=135813

3 bodies, 1 headless, found in ditch in Mexico

By OLIVIA TORRES, The Associated Press
2:15 p.m. July 21, 2009

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Three bodies, one of them headless, were found floating in an irrigation ditch Tuesday in a northern Mexican border city where drug violence has spiked despite the presence of thousands of soldiers.

Firefighters fished the bodies from the ditch in Ciudad Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso, Texas. One of the bodies was decapitated, while the other two were found with their heads wrapped in packing tape, according to a city fire department report. All three had signs of torture – a trademark of drug gang violence.

The federal government deployed 5,000 extra troops to Ciudad Juarez in an attempt to restore security to one of Mexico's most dangerous cities. Homicides initially dropped sharply, only to quickly resurge: More than 800 people have been killed this year, a rate similar to last year.

President Felipe Calderon has sent tens of thousands of soldiers and federal police across the country to crush Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.

But the strategy has failed to quell brutal drug violence, which has claimed more than 11,000 lives since Calderon took office in December 2006.

Another tortured body, gagged and stuffed in a plastic bag, was found in the Gulf state of Veracruz, municipal police spokeswoman Laura Leon said Tuesday. Police found the man's body just before midnight Monday in the city of Boca del Rio.

The Mexican navy, meanwhile, seized two speedboats containing 8.3 tons of cocaine off of the coast of southwestern Oaxaca state, according to a navy statement released Tuesday.

Five crew members – three Mexicans and two Colombians – were arrested in Monday's operation, assisted by U.S., Guatemalan and Belizean authorities.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=135813