GUNMEN KILL 18 IN MEXICO

Slayings of kids, others may be drug-related

MEXICO CITY - Gunmen swarmed into a quiet Pacific fishing port early
Thursday and massacred at least 18 men, women and children in an
apparently drug-related attack, authorities said.

The victims - including two teenagers, six children and a baby - were
rousted from their beds and shot about 4:30 a.m., Red Cross workers
said. At least two other people were gravely injured, and some Mexican
radio stations were reporting unconfirmed death tolls of 20 and 21.

Police were questioning a 15-year-old survivor, a girl who hid under a
bed and escaped the slaughter in El Sauzal. The town is a suburb of
Ensenada, a popular tourist spot about 60 miles south of San Diego,
Calif.

No one had been arrested late Thursday in the crime, which shocked
Mexicans and Americans alike.

"If drug traffickers did this, it's a new kind of attack," said Victor
Clark, a Tijuana human rights activist. "Usually, they execute one or
two people, not entire families. At least not here in Baja California.
By killing these children, the traffickers have broken their own
unwritten code."

The motive wasn't clear late Thursday. Some law enforcement sources
speculated that the killings could be retaliation for the Sept. 10
slaying of convicted drug trafficker Rafael Munoz Talavera in the
border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.

Mr. Munoz Talavera was released from a Mexican jail in 1995 after
serving time for engineering a record 21.5-ton cocaine shipment that
landed in Southern California. He wrote a letter to Mexican President
Ernesto Zedillo in December, saying he had quit the drug trade and
feared he was going to be assassinated.

But some current and former American law enforcement officials
disputed that and said they had seen signs that Mr. Munoz Talavera had
taken control of the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso drug corridor after the
death of last year of Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

The Arellano Felix drug gang, traditionally based in Tijuana, may have
seen Mr. Munoz Talavera as a rival and killed him, officials said. In
retaliation, traffickers loyal to Mr. Munoz Talavera may have carried
out Thursday's attack, officials said.

Among those shot and gravely wounded was Fermin Castro, a suspected
Arellano Felix associate in charge of marijuana cultivation in the
nearby Valley of Trinity, said Marco Antonio de la Fuente, the
attorney general of Baja California state.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that the Arellano Felix
gang, led by brothers Ramon, Benjamin and Javier, is "one of the most
powerful and aggressive drug trafficking organizations in Mexico . . .
and undeniably the most violent."

The brothers operate, often under police protection, in the Mexican
states of Baja California, Jalisco, Michoacan, Chiapas and Sinaloa,
their home state, DEA agents say.

"If this was indeed retaliation, whoever did it sent a heck of a
message to the Arellano Felix gang," said Phil Jordan, a Dallas
security specialist and former senior agent with the DEA.

"It's the kind of drug-related violence that puts Mexico one step
closer to Colombia. It's not good for Mexico, and it's not good for
the United States. And as long as narco-political corruption exists in
Mexico, I don't think the situation will get any better."

Federal authorities, who have jurisdiction over drug-related crimes,
had not taken charge of the case as of late Thursday. A spokeswoman
for the federal attorney general's office had no comment. Some critics

suggest the attorney general's office isn't getting involved because
the agency is mired in drug corruption itself.

"Their lack of attention is incredible. It's totally unexplainable,
unless they are really brain-dead," said Kent Alexander, an American
who has trained drug-sniffing dogs for the attorney general's office
in a number of Mexican states.

Red Cross workers said the victims were members of three families who
lived in neighboring houses. Mexican television showed images of their
bodies, some clad in pajamas, next to toys, broken chairs and shell
casings.

Baja California residents say the attack comes during the summer
tourist season and is another stain on the region's image.

"Now everyone's going to be talking about Baja California like there's
terrorism here, bandidos with bandannas over their faces and carrying
guns, waiting to hijack the next bus. But it's not like that," said
Keith Rolle, owner of a Spanish-language school near El Sauzal.
"Violent crime is low here. It's not part of the culture."

The slayings come at a time of disarray for law enforcement in Baja
California. The federal attorney general's office is in the midst of a
reorganization, and state and federal authorities have been busy
lately accusing each other of incompetence and corruption.

"Whoever did this terrible crime probably knows that law enforcement
authorities are weak and divided. That won't help the investigation at
all," Mr. Clark said.

This year, Zeta, a Tijuana weekly, published an investigative report
alleging that traffickers had virtually taken over Ensenada and had
scores of police officers and other government employees on their
payroll. The paper sold out so quickly that extras had to be printed.

Zeta publisher Jesus Blancornelas, an award-winning journalist who has
written hard-hitting exposes on the Arellano Felix gang and police
corruption, barely survived an assassination attempt near his office
last November. Police blame drug traffickers.

Federal authorities in Mexico City have said the Ensenada-Tijuana area
is one of the nation's hottest drug transit spots.

Cirilo Corona Gallegos, the new head of the attorney general's office
in Ensenada, recently told Zeta that the situation was not so bad and
that petty drug use was a bigger problem than large-scale smuggling.

Ensenada, famous for tasty fish tacos and a 105-year-old cantina named
Hussong's, is about an hour's drive south of the bustling border city
of Tijuana. It's nestled in the Todos Santos bay, home base for a
large tuna-fishing fleet. Baja Studios, where the movie Titanic was
filmed, is nearby.

"It's a spectacular place," Mr. Rolle said. "But after this, I expect
a major drop in tourism. What a pity. People are extremely
disappointed and sad about those people and kids who got killed."

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady