MASSACRE IN MEXICO

Suspicions: Weapons used in attack are called guns of choice for drug gangs.

Survivor: Girl, 15, escapes death by hiding under bed during predawn raid.

Some targets of gunmen were involved in crime, radio report says

BY RICARDO SANDOVAL Mercury News Mexico City Bureau

MEXICO CITY -- At least 19 men, women and children were gunned to death
Thursday near the resort town of Ensenada, 60 miles south of San Diego, in
what police said could be a drug-related massacre ordered by leaders of one
of Mexico's biggest trafficking cartels.

Police say the families were rousted by gunmen at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday,
dragged outside, lined against concrete walls and shot repeatedly with
assault rifles, handguns and at least one shotgun.

``In all my life, I've never seen anything like this. It looked like a
scene from `Rambo,' '' said Capt. Humberto HernE1ndez del Parra of the
46ederal Highway Police.

Eight children -- including youngsters ages 1, 2 and 4 -- were among the
dead, but one teenager who hid under a bed survived. Authorities said the
15-year-old girl, whom they plan to interview for clues to the identity of
the killers, was in shock after the massacre.

The attorney general of Baja California state, Marco Antonio de la Fuente
Villarreal, shied away from stating a motive for the killings during a
Thursday afternoon news conference.

``We cannot say 100 percent that it was an aspect of drug trafficking or
for some other motive,'' he said. ``Information is still lacking.''

Earlier in the day, the government news agency Notimex quoted him as saying
the head of one of the households, Ferm(acu)n Castro, was a cultivator of
marijuana for the Arellano-FE9lix drug cartel, headquartered in Tijuana.

The weapons used in the attack, guns of choice for Mexican drug gangs, were
the first clues for Ensenada police as they responded to reports of a
shootout in the quiet seaside suburb called El Sauzal.

If the narcotics connection is confirmed, the massacre would be one of
Mexico's worst crime-related killings. It would be the latest incident in a
growing wave of drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Teen hid, survived attack

Three people initially survived Thursday's massacre, including the girl who
hid under a bed and was not injured. One person died later, and police said
another survivor remains hospitalized in a coma. He was identified only as
Castro, 35.

The dead included five women, one of whom was pregnant. They all were
members of three related families. Two of the families were identified as
Castro and the other as Flores. They lived in adjoining homes in an
upper-class neighborhood in El Sauzal, just north of Ensenada. The families
operated farms in nearby valleys.

About a month ago, a member of the Castro family was gunned down in front
of an Ensenada shopping center, according to police sources and Baja
California press reports.

A Mexico City criminologist, contacted by Baja authorities shortly after
Thursday's shooting, said that descriptions of the scene bear signs of a
drug-gang hit.

``This is because of the methodical nature of the incident,'' said the
criminologist, who asked not to be identified. ``The assailants took the
time to drag 22 people out of bed, line them up and then shoot them. And
it's usually drug gangsters who can afford these types of weapons.''

The criminologist said there were several farmworkers also on the property
in the predawn hours, but none was among the victims.

Assault rifles used in raid

Some adults were clad in underwear and T-shirts. Others wore pajamas. All
were riddled with bullet holes. Shell casings from assault-rifle bullets
littered the dirt driveway in front of the two homes, where horses and
other farm animals wandered about.

Toys were tossed around the driveway, as was shattered glass and overturned
patio furniture. Inside, there were few signs of struggle.

An Ensenada radio reporter said the families were not rich, but that some
were involved in organized-crime rings that also ran high-stakes
cockfighting matches in the area. Police would not comment on that report.

The stronger suspicion remains on drugs. The region of Baja California,
near the U.S.-Mexico border, is the stronghold of the Arellano-FE9lix
cartel, Mexico's biggest and richest drug trafficking gang. Police say
drug-related violence has been on the rise in Ensenada in recent years, as
the Arellano-FE9lix gang spreads its distribution network.

Drug shootouts have been a common occurrence along the border, especially
in the past year. The Arellano-FE9lix family is locked in a struggle over
Mexico's lucrative drug-trafficking business with the JuE1rez cartel,
which operates along much of the U.S.-Mexico border from Texas to Arizona.

Last week the co-founder of the JuE1rez cartel, Rafael MuF1oz Talavera,
was found dead in the trunk of a car near the Mexico-Texas border. His
death came a year after the JuE1rez cartel chief, Amado Carrillo Fuentes,
died after plastic surgery in a Mexico City hospital.

U.S. drug agents say that since Carrillo Fuentes' death, the cartels have
been fighting among themselves -- and against each other -- for control of
trafficking lanes that move north as much as 70 percent of the cocaine and
marijuana imported annually by U.S. drug gangs.

Mercury News wire services contributed to this report.

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Checked-by: Pat Dolan