Former Mexican drug prosecutor slain

MEXICO CITY (AP) The body of a former federal drug prosecutor in the
northern state of Chihuahua was found Wednesday stuffed in an oil drum in
the central state of Morelos.

The body of Fernando Pascual Velez, 47, bore signs of torture, the
government news agency Notimex reported. Local news media said it appeared
the man had been strangled.

A coworker said Pascual Velez was working as a criminal lawyer in Mexico
City when he disappeared a week ago, but may also have been investigating
drug trafficking. The body was found by highway police at a garage on the
road leading from Mexico City to nearby Cuernavaca.

Police have yet to explain one odd detail of the killing: small wads of
paper found in Pascual Velez' throat.

Elsewhere Wednesday, the army said it detained 11 policemen who were
carrying 1,623 pounds of marijuana in official vehicles in the southern
state of Guerrero.

Two Guerrero state police commanders were among the 11 police and five
civilians detained by soldiers of the 40th Infantry Battalion, according to
statements made by the army when it turned the suspects over to state
prosecutors.

The troops also seized six rifles, four assault weapons and several pistols
from the group, detained outside the battalion's headquarters in Ciudad
Altamirano, 112 miles southwest of Mexico City.

The arrests come one month after two other police commanders and three
policemen were arrested for allegedly transporting marijuana in official
vehicles in the nearby town of San Miguel Totolapan.

The area where the arrests occurred is part of a region frequently used by
drug traffickers to transport their products northward.

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved.