DRUGS EYED IN FLORIDA KILLINGS OF S. TEXANS

McALLEN - The young couple and their two boys shot to death beside
Florida's Turnpike two weeks ago likely were targeted for drugs and
cash, authorities said Friday as they named five "persons of
interest" in the highly publicized case.

The father, Jose Luis Escobedo, 28, who recently moved his family
from Brownsville to Greenacres, Fla., is believed to have been
involved with cocaine trafficking, police said.

After the Oct. 13 killings, investigators found packaging materials
and drug ledgers they believe accounted for payments in the family's
Florida home, which may have been a staging area, according to court records.

"Despite the crime's initial appearance as a possible random act of
violence ... our investigation quickly led us to believe that this
was a deliberate act of premeditated murder on the Escobedo family
for drugs, money or both," St. Lucie County, Fla., Sheriff Ken
Mascara said at a news conference.

It's unclear who's responsible for killing Jose Luis, a small-scale
used car dealer; his wife, Yessica, 25; and their sons Luis Julian,
4; and Luis Damian, 3 More coverage

Charged Thursday with conspiring to possess and distribute at least
500 grams of cocaine in the Palm Beach County area were Danny "D.V."
Varela, 26; Ricardo "Rick" Sanchez Jr., 23; Daniel Troya, 23; and
Liana Lee "Negra" Lopez, 18.

All were identified as "persons of interest" in the Escobedo case by police.

Rothman said more than one gun was used in the slayings.was used.

Investigators Friday questioned the registered owner of a dark red
conversion van they believe was at the scene of the early morning
killings. The owner said he sold the vehicle to Varela but neglected
to transfer the title. The Sheriff's Office issued a statement that
said his explanation checked out and officials no longer considered
him a person of interest.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency alleges in an affidavit filed in
Florida that Jose Luis Escobedo was linked to the defendants in the
recent drug case.

The search of a home in West Palm Beach on Wednesday where the
defendants lived or frequented revealed narcotics, packaging
materials, scales, 13 weapons - handguns, shotguns, rifles and an
AK-47-style assault rifle - and a photograph of Escobedo with one of
the defendants, according to the affidavit.

In a search of the Escobedo home, the defendants' names either
appeared on a ledger tracking drug payments or on Jose Luis' cell
phone, according to the affidavit.

A fifth defendant in the drug case, who's not considered a person of
interest in the killings, told investigators that he helped Escobedo
get rid of packaging materials that "previously contained kilogram
quantity bricks of cocaine," according to the affidavit.

Sheriff's Lt. Jerry Rothman said he expects charges for the slayings
to come down as early as next week.

"We have a lot of evidence to process still, but we are confident
that we are going to have a conclusion to this, that we are going to
be charging somebody soon," he said.

Family members recently buried the victims in Brownsville. Jose Luis'
uncle, Jose Torres, said relatives weren't aware of his alleged
involvement with drugs.

"If that's what he was doing than it's a big surprise for us, for his
family," Torres said. "He was working over there building parking
lots for new stores that were about to open. ... Who knows, it might
have been one of his first attempts of wanting to do something. We
would like to know more. This is something shocking for us."

Jose Luis Escobedo received six years probation after being arrested
in 1997 for possessing cocaine, but had no other criminal record.

Still unclear, however, is whether his fugitive brother, Jose Manuel
Escobedo, also 28, had anything to do with provoking the rage that
led to the deaths on the turnpike, police said.

Released on his own recognizance from a federal prison in Oakdale,
La., on March 7, Jose Manuel Escobedo didn't show up at a prison camp
in Big Spring to finish out six years left on his sentence for
conspiring to posses and distribute drugs, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Prisons.

It was around the same time that Jose Luis Escobedo moved from
Brownsville to Florida, with his family joining him there months later.

Officials suspect the fugitive brother is in Mexico.

"Right now my concern and the U.S. marshals' concern is to find the
people who killed these two kids," said Beau Bartel, of the U.S.
Marshals Service office in Lake Charles, La. "I would rather find
those people than find the escapee running around Mexico. That's my
priority right now. The four arrests in Florida, I think we knocked
out a big chunk of that. That was our main goal from the get-go."

Staff Writer Jeorge Zarazua contributed to this report from San Antonio.