Juárez body count continues to climb
By By Adriana M. Chávez / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 05/30/2008 03:33:38 PM MDT


JUAREZ -- This year's death count has reached to more than 400 in the ongoing war between drug cartels from Juárez and Sinaloa.
From Thursday morning to early Friday, there have been at least 15 murders. Unverified totals discussed among media outlets in Juárez and El Paso have put the total murder count at above 400.

At about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, two men were found in black trash bags, one of them inside of a barrel, near Portaaviones and Puente del Cendro streets in northern Juárez. The bodies were found by two security guards of the nearby Villa Residencial housing complex, who told police that one of the bodies was missing his eyes and apparently had chunks of hair pulled from the scalp. Police said both bodies were mutilated.

Fifteen hours later, a man and a women were killed and another man was injured while in a white 1995 Oldsmobile near Vicente Guerrero and Ignacio Ramirez streets. Police said that the three were apparently shot at by someone firing a machine gun from another vehicle.

At 12:50 a.m. Friday, police were called to the entrance of the Barreales village outside of Juárez after the bodies of two men were found outside of a ranch. One of the men was identified by police at 50-year-old Agustin Castañeda Cigala. Police said about 40 bullet casings were found scattered throughout the crime scene, and that the men were apparently shot at by someone in a vehicle.

Ten minutes later, at 1 a.m. Friday, a man in his 40's was killed at Emiliano Zapata and Ignacio



Allende streets in the Mexico 68 neighborhood, police said. There were no witnesses to the murder, but the man's body was found with a message on his chest similar to other messages found on murder victims that have been signed by "La LÃ*nea," or the Juárez drug cartel.
Past messages have called victims "traitors" for apparently joining the Sinaloa cartel headed by JoaquÃ*n "El Chapo" Guzman.

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





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