SUSPECTS IN DRUG SLAYINGS RELEASED BY MEXICAN POLICE

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Two men under house arrest during the investigation of
clandestine graves discovered along U.S. border have been released, local
media reported yesterday.

Mexican and U.S. officials decided in January to end their joint two-month
excavation of suspected grave sites after turning up nine bodies at three
sites. The dead are believed to be the victims of drug-related violence.

The men were identified as a co-owner and caretaker of the La Campana ranch
in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Neither man had been charged in the case, and both claimed they had become
involved with the property well after the bodies had been buried there.

The investigation began Nov. 29 after an informant told authorities as many
as 100 bodies might be found at the ranch and three other sites.