1 SLAIN, 1 WOUNDED IN POT TRAFFICKING CASE

TIJUANA - A load of marijuana that was abandoned in San Diego County
led to the death of a Tecate man and the attempted killing of another,
Baja California law enforcement officials said yesterday.

Half-buried and left for dead, the surviving victim sought help and
reported the crime, leading to the arrest of eight suspects early
yesterday and the discovery of the corpse.

Investigators said it all began last Friday when two Tecate residents
were hired to pick up a load of marijuana from an empty lot off
Interstate 8 near Alpine. Officials would not specify the shipment's
final destination, saying only that it was in the United States.

The men were identified as Marco Roberto Caballero Sanchez and Carlos
Rabago Lopez, both in their early 20s. They met two other men at the
lot, who gave them the shipment of 65 pounds, investigators said.

Caballero and Rabago then headed toward Chula Vista, police said, but
abandoned the car with the marijuana inside when they realized they
would have to drive through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.

"They took the wrong freeway. They got scared," said Maria Teresa
Valadez, head of the Baja California Attorney General's Office in Tijuana.

When the two called by radio to explain what happened, they were told
to head for the McDonald's in Tecate. There, they met the men who had
supplied the marijuana and were driven to a ranch on the outskirts of
town.

A man there told Caballero and Rabago that they owed him $40,000. The
two were beaten, blindfolded, tied up, put in a car and driven away.

At some point, they were unloaded and shot.

Caballero was struck in the head, but the bullet only grazed him. He
lost consciousness, and when he came to he could see the lights of the
Baja California State Penitentiary at El Hongo and was able to walk to
a nearby road and find help.

Early yesterday, state agents raided five locations in the Tecate
area, arresting eight suspects in connection with the case, one of
whom helped them find Rabago's body.

State agents said the lost marijuana shipment belongs to a man
nicknamed "El Venado." The investigation was continuing yesterday,
Jaime Niebla Gonzalez, state police commander in Tijuana, said. He did
not disclose the location of the abandoned vehicle.

"We have work ahead of us, to be able to know who they are, what they
dedicate themselves to, and what drug trafficking groups they may
belong to," Niebla said.