18 SLAIN IN NORTHERN MEXICO

EL SAUZAL, Mexico (AP) -- Gunmen yanked three families from their beds
before dawn Thursday, lined them against a wall and shot at least 18
men, women and children to death near a popular Baja California resort.

At least two people were seriously wounded in the attack. Police have
a witness in protective custody, a 15-year-old girl who hid under a
bed during the slaughter, The Associated Press has learned.

The attorney general of Baja California state, Marco Antonio de la
Fuente Villarreal, shied away from stating a motive for the killings
during a Thursday afternoon news conference.

``We cannot say 100 percent that it was an aspect of drug trafficking
or for some other motive,'' he said. ``Information is still lacking.''

Earlier in the day, the government news agency Notimex quoted him as
saying the head of one of the households grew marijuana for the
Arellano Felix drug-smuggling gang

He reportedly said the man, Fermin Castro, oversaw the Arellano
Felix's marijuana plantations nearby.

Castro wasn't killed in the attack, but was in very serious condition
with a bullet wound to the head, health officials said.

Police said the attack took place at 4:30 a.m. in El Sauzal, a suburb
of the resort town of Ensenada, a popular beach destination for
Californians that's only a 1 1/2-hour drive from San Diego.

Victoria Salas Arellano, who is not related to the Arellano Feliz
brothers, lives about 100 yards from Castro's ranch. She said she woke
up around 4 a.m. to the sound of gunshots.

She said she thought the sounds were noisemakers or firecrackers from
independence day parties the night before until she heard the ambulances.

She described Castro as a well-liked man who participated in local
rodeos and invited poorer neighbors to parties at his ranch on a hill
with a view of the Pacific Ocean .

The victims appeared to be asleep when the gunmen showed up; most of
the bodies were wearing pajamas -- or nothing at all -- and the beds
in at least one of the houses were unmade, as if sleeping people had
been pulled from them.

Television images showed the victims lined up in a pool of blood in
front of a wall. A television reporter said one woman was clutching a
baby in her arms; both were dead.

``In all my life, I've never seen anything like this. It looked like a
scene from Rambo,'' said Capt. Humberto Hernandez del Parra of the
Federal Highway Police.

Officials distributed a list of 18 confirmed dead, though there were
unconfirmed reports that one to two other people had died after the
attack at hospitals.

The director of the Red Cross in Ensenada, Eugenio Carrillo, said the
victims were the residents of three neighboring houses. He said the
dead included nine adults, two teen-agers, six children and a baby.

A 15-year-old girl hid under a bed and escaped notice by the
attackers, and police were questioning her about what she saw, a
judicial police officer told The AP on condition of anonymity. He did
not elaborate and the report could not be confirmed
independently.

Children's toys littered the yard outside one house, according to the
television footage. The yard was filled with broken glass and chairs
were overturned on the porch, indicating a struggle. Turkeys cackled
in the yard.

Dozens of bullet casings surrounded the bodies, and the Televisa
television network said most were from a Kalashnikov assault weapon,
although some were from smaller-caliber weapons and shotguns.

Ensenada Judicial Police officer Jose Ramon Espinoza said the victims
were members of three families: the Flores family and two families
that both had the last name Castro. It was unclear whether the three
families were related.

``It appears they rounded them all up, lined them up and gunned them

down,'' Espinoza said. He said he had no information on suspects or a
possible motive.

The drug gang led by the Arellano Felix brothers is based in Tijuana,
60 miles to the north.

The brothers, once known for the violence with which they controlled
their territory, had recently been settling into a quieter, more
businesslike style after making themselves famous for shootouts in
broad daylight.

But Mexican authorities suspect the Arellano Felix brothers were
behind the slaying of a rival last week in Ciudad Juarez, just across
the border from El Paso, Texas.

Rafael Munoz Talavera, considered a front-runner to succeed deceased
Juarez cartel leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes, was found shot to death
in the back seat of an armored Jeep Cherokee.

Analysts said the killing might signal a shift back to the violence of
the past.

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady