MEXICAN AUTHORITIES LINK MASSACRE TO VIOLENT DRUG GANG

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Nineteen people have been slain in drug-related violence
in a small northern town in Mexico, officials say.

An alleged drug trafficker and 18 members of his extended family -
including eight children - were roused from their beds Sept. 17 by gunmen
who lined them up against a wall and shot them with automatic weapons,
officials said Tuesday. The massacre took place near the northern coastal
resort of Ensenada.

The gunmen's target, a Pei Pei Indian named Fermin Castro, died two weeks
later of complications from two bullet wounds.

Deputy Attorney General Jose Luis Ramos Rivera said three suspects had been
arrested, and warrants have been issued for 10 others - one of whom may be
hiding in the United States.

The gunmen were members of a gang led by a man known as "Lino Quintana,''
who works for drug lord Ramon Arellano Felix, said Gen. Guillermo Alvarez,
who coordinates anti-drug efforts at the judicial police.

Ramon Arellano Felix was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list last year,
and U.S. federal authorities have offered a $2 million reward for
information leading to his arrest.

He and three of his brothers are fugitives who control major routes
funneling cocaine, marijuana and other drugs into the United States across
the California-Mexico border, authorities say.

Mexican authorities have sought the brothers since 1993.

Alvarez and federal prosecutors said Quintana's gang killed Castro to keep
his marijuana-trafficking operation from growing into a potential competitor.

Authorities said they solved the case after two people were murdered Oct.
29 by gunmen wearing the same military-style uniforms as those worn in the
September massacre near the northern coastal resort of Ensenada.

Descriptions gathered from survivors of the two attacks led to the arrest
of Armando Villegas, who said he was present during both slayings. Villegas
directed authorities to a ranch in Rosarito, Baja California, where
investigators found guns and uniforms allegedly used by the gunmen.

Alvarez said the gunmen in Ensenada were especially brutal because they
consumed large amounts of alcohol and cocaine prior to the attack.

He said Quintana's gang had used military uniforms apparently bought in the
United States, and insisted that Mexican soldiers were not involved in the
massacre, as local media have speculated.

He said five soldiers who had been under house arrest during the
investigation had been cleared of any involvement in the killings and
released.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski