BODIES OF SIX SLAYING VICTIMS FOUND IN TIJUANA

TIJUANA -- The bodies of six slaying victims were discovered here yesterday
in what are believed to be separate cases of kidnapping and drug trafficking.

Two of the victims were kidnapped about a week ago from the Mexican border
city of Tecate. Their strangled bodies were found about 8 a.m. in a
drainage ditch near the Samsung factory in Florido Industrial Park.

A few hours later, police found four more bodies -- three men and a woman
- -- inside a house that officials believe was being used to store or package
drugs. The victims, ranging in age from 18 to 30, had all been shot.

"It may be a coincidence that this has happened all in one day. It doesn't
mean they are linked," said Raul Gutierrez, a spokesman with the state
attorney general's office in Tijuana.

It is unclear when the two kidnapped men were killed and dumped in Tijuana.
Daniel Avendano Lopez, 37, was a mechanic and race promoter, state police
said. His companion, Victor Hugo Cancino, was 28.

This was the second time Avendano had been kidnapped this year. His family
didn't notify police the first time, and he was returned safely in exchange
for a ransom, Gutierrez said.

This time, the family did notify police but decided not to involve
officials in the ransom negotiations. It isn't known how much the family
paid before Avendano and Hugo were killed.

The identities of the other four victims, believed to have been killed
Tuesday night, weren't available last night. Their deaths are being
investigated by the federal attorney general's office, which handles cases
clearly related to drug trafficking.

The four were found in an empty house, with small quantities of marijuana
and a 9 mm gun.

"It was a place where they either stored drugs or wrapped them, and it may
be that there were more drugs in the house, but whoever did this may have
taken the drugs with them," said Gutierrez.

Yesterday's toll was high even by Tijuana's standards. The city of about
1.3 million averages about one killing a day, but rarely has more than four
in one day. In comparison, San Diego, with a similar population, had 57
slayings during all of last year.