12 VILLAGERS KILLED IN MAJOR DRUG AREA

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Hooded gunmen in military garb, armed with submachine
guns, shot and killed 12 villagers and wounded three in Limoncito de Ayala
in the western state of Sinaloa, authorities said yesterday.

The town, in the municipality of Cosala, is about 75 miles south of
Culiacan, a major center of cocaine trafficking. But investigators said
there was no immediate indication the killings were related to the drug trade.

Shortly after taking office in December, President Vicente Fox sent 1,000
officers to fight drug-related violence in Culiacan after Sinaloa Gov. Juan
Millan said he could no longer fight the scourge on his own. Fox also chose
the state capital last month to launch a nationwide war on narcotics
trafficking and organized crime.