MEXICO SAYS JUAREZ SITES MAY YIELD FEW BODIES

Top Official Rebuts Earlier Speculation

Digging at four ranches in Juarez, Mexico, will most likely yield the
bodies of few of the nearly 200 people who have vanished along the Texas
border this decade, Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo said yesterday.

"There has been a lot of speculation about the number of people buried in
those places in Juarez," said Madrazo. "And we have no idea how many bodies
will be recovered, but it's certainly not 100 or 200." Madrazo added that
the excavation would likely be completed within two weeks.

FBI officials had indicated early last week that mass graves of 100 or more
people might be unearthed at the collection of desolate ranches south of
Ciudad Juarez. But after 10 days of excavation, Mexican and U.S. officials
have recovered only eight bodies and encouraged caution about the magnitude
of any further findings.

The Association of Relatives of Disappeared Persons in El Paso has compiled
a list of 196 people who have vanished over the past five years in the
Ciudad Juarez-El Paso area. But Madrazo said most members' hopes of finally
learning how their relatives perished will likely fail to materialize. "I
think that some of the human remains we are recovering at this moment, the
names will appear on the list," Madrazo said. "But very few."

Madrazo, who arrived in Washington late Tuesday to meet with Attorney
General Janet Reno and White House Drug Control Policy Director Barry R.
McCaffrey, also offered more details about how the investigation had unfolded.

An informant who said he was an eyewitness to the slayings came forward to
the FBI in February, Madrazo said. The witness provided the names of some
of those killed, and gave precise locations where certain bodies could be
found.

"He was part of one cell of drug trafficking in Juarez," Madrazo said. The
attorney general did not say whether the witness was a corrupt Mexican
police official who has been described by U.S. law enforcement authorities
as a key source.

Madrazo "has been very cautious," explained a Mexican official. "This
person is now a protected witness by both countries and giving more
information compromises the identity."

Facing possible indictment on drug charges, the witness decided to reveal
what he knew about the murders and was granted immunity, Madrazo said. The
FBI then approached Madrazo's office and weeks of cooperation followed. The
attorney general said the witness had never claimed that hundreds of bodies
were buried at the ranches. "He gave us names, not figures," Madrazo said.

Interviews with arrested drug traffickers and other evidence was compared
with the claims of the key witness. "We had to check and double-check all
the information," Madrazo said. "The information provided by him, of
course, is important. But he is not the only witness. We have several."

The digging at the first two ranches identified by the witness will
probably end this week, he said. All that is known of the remains, before
forensic testing, is that they are those of eight men. Fragments of
clothing, blankets and shoes were also found. On Monday, excavation will
begin at two other ranches.

"The people who killed those eight people are members of the Juarez
cartel," Madrazo said. "I think we will finish in a week and a half, or a
couple of weeks, the effort to recover the physical evidence."

At the Justice Department's weekly briefing yesterday morning, Deputy
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said, "I don't think it's something
that is going to be ended any time soon." Justice Department officials said
he was referring to the entire investigation, not the excavation.