U.S. INDICTS DRUGS KINGPIN SUSPECT

Dec 1999: Gruesome Discovery Stirred The Police Into Action

The US Justice Department has issued a 46-count indictment, including 10 counts of murder, against the alleged leader of a Mexican drugs cartel, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.

The Attorney-General's Office in Washington said Mr Carrillo was believed to control virtually all the drug-trafficking in the northern Mexican border city of Juarez and nearby El Paso on the US side of the border.

For years the fugitive has been suspected of waging a bloody campaign against anyone who wanted to challenge his authority in the region.

Mass Grave

Now the Attorney-General's Office believes it has enough evidence to take him to trial.

Its federal indictment covers a litany of crimes: 10 counts of murder, nine of ordering murders - including the killing of the Juarez State police chief and his son.

He is also accused of importing and distributing tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States since 1985.

At least some of the people Mr Carrillo is believed to have murdered were unearthed from a mass grave on a ranch just outside Juarez in December last year.

Power Struggle

The discovery prodded law-enforcement officials on both sides of the border to renew their efforts at finding those responsible.

Now, although they have the evidence, they do not have Mr Carrillo - who is still at large despite police efforts to track him down.

But he is still believed to be active in the region, involved in an ongoing power struggle for control of the drugs corridor through Juarez and El Paso.

"The indictment is a breakthrough," said one drugs-trafficking expert, "but it won't stop the bloodbath."