16 SLAIN AS JUAREZ VIOLENCE CONTINUES

The wave of violence continued to sweep through Mexico, with at least
16 people killed Wednesday in Juarez -- most of them executed.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Mexico since the beginning of
this month in what Mexican authorities say will be the deadliest month
since President Felipe Calderon began a war against drug cartels in
late 2006.

The day after Calderon addressed the country about his fight against
organized crime, a group of gunmen shot and killed four men and two
women at a drug rehabilitation center in Juarez, Chihuahua state
officials said.

Police identified the victims as Sergio Arturo Soto, 39; Erick Sanchez
Chairez; Adriana Garcia Acevedo, 34; Adrian Rodriguez Camarillo, 28;
Rosa Isela Pineda Tellez, 32; and Luis Eduardo Molina Sosa, between 25
and 30 years old.

Investigators found the six bodies on the ground near the Clinica
Integral Contra las Adicciones in the Angel Trias neighborhood. At the
scene, police found 49 bullet casings, and authorities rescued a baby.

The massacre took place almost a week after more than 25 gunmen with
high-powered weapons burst into a drug rehabilitation center in
Chihuahua City and killed 19 men, an act that was described by
officials as the worst multiple killing in the city's history.

In other violence, three men and an 18-year-old woman were killed
about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at an electronics repair shop in the Tierra
Nueva neighborhood in Juarez, police said.

Chihuahua police officials said investigators found a man dead in the
middle of the intersection of Puerto Palos and Puerto Habana streets.
Two men and a woman were found dead in the business known as
Electromecanica Gael, police said.

Earlier Wednesday, a Cereso prison security guard was killed and a
commander was wounded while they were traveling in an official vehicle
at the intersection of Hacienda Central and Acacias streets.

Chihuahua police officials said Angel Pereda Fernandez died at the
scene. Investigators found 47 bullet casings.

Cmdr. Luis Javier Renteria Martinez was wounded during the attack and
taken to a hospital, where he was recovering from several gunshot
wounds to his face, officials said.

Officials said Pereda Fernandez used to be Renteria Martinez's
bodyguard.

Three Mexican federal police officers were killed and another was
wounded Monday when they were attacked by heavily armed gunmen in
Chihuahua City, police officials said.

The officers were taking part in a drug dealing investigation and were
traveling on a city street Monday afternoon when gunmen with AK-47 and
AR-15 rifles shot them.

The attack in Chihuahua City occurred the same day that 10 federal
police officers were killed in highway ambush in the state of Michoacan.

Officials said several gunmen were killed but surviving attackers
removed their bodies. Also Monday, inmates at a Sinaloa prison used
guns apparently smuggled inside to kill 21 prisoners in what officials
said appeared to be a dispute between gangs. At least eight more
inmates were later stabbed to death in apparent reprisals at the prison.

Last week, at least 16 people were tortured and killed in one day in
the northern state of Tamaulipas, and earlier this month authorities
discovered 55 bodies in an abandoned silver mine in the southern state
of Guerrero that was being used as a dumping ground for apparent
victims of drug violence.

About 23,000 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006. About
5,300 people have been killed in Juarez since the beginning of 2008.

Tuesday night, Calderon urged Mexicans to report criminals to
authorities and help the Mexican government defeat the drug cartels.

During his televised speech to the nation, Calderon described the
United States as the main drug consumer and blamed violence in the
country on drug cartels trying to take over trafficking routes to
supply the drug market in the United States.

Calderon also said that since the U.S. government eased restrictions
on assault-weapons sales, it has become easy for criminal groups to
get high-powered weapons in the United States and bring them into Mexico.

"To recover our security won't be an easy or quick task, but it's
worth continuing," Calderon said in the speech. "We can't and won't
let our guard down during my administration."