DRUG MOTIVE PROBED AFTER 18 MEXICANS MASSACRED

ENSENADA, Mexico (Reuters) - Gunmen lined up 19 people including six
children and a baby against a wall and mowed them down after dragging
them from their beds at a ranch near the U.S. border early Thursday,
officials said.

Investigators immediately suspected a drug connection
as the area is a major corridor for smuggling cocaine into the U.S.
The killings took place near the port and tourist city of Ensenada,
about an hour's drive south of the border linking San Diego in
California and Tijuana in the Mexican state Baja California.

One man survived the shootings but he was in critical condition, officials
said. A 15-year-old girl escaped death by hiding under a bed. The Red
Cross classified the 18 victims as four men, five women, two
adolescents, six children and one baby. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id2556118164-96f

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady