DISMEMBERED BODY OF FEDERAL AGENT FOUND IN JUAREZ

Authorities reported finding the dismembered body of a Mexican federal
agent early Sunday in Juarez.

The remains were found near a shopping center, along with a message,
purportedly from a drug cartel. Officials would not disclose what the
message said.

On Saturday, federal agents in Juarez protested against their
commanders, whom they alleged had orchestrated extortions, robberies
and drug-related crimes, and unjustly framed a fellow agent who was
charged with drug possession.

The agents made their allegations public in front of reporters, and
clashed with federal agents who tried to safeguard the commanders --
Ricardo Duque Chavez, Antelmo Castaneda Silva, Joel Ortega Montenegro
and Salomon Alarcon Romero.

In a statement, Mexico's Public Security Ministry said four federal
police officers were suspended pending an investigation but did not
confirm if they are the same ones their subordinates accused of wrongdoing.

According to La Jornada, a Mexican national newspaper, 20 federal
agents have been killed in Juarez this year since they took over the
crackdown against the drug cartels.

Before the federal agents arrived at the border, the military was in
charge of the federal government's operation, in conjunction with
local police.

Also on Sunday, a Catholic priest in Palomas, Chihuahua, made a grisly
discovery when he came across the heads of three men in the town
plaza's gazebo near his church.

Palomas is across the border from Columbus, N.M., which is about 80
miles west of El Paso.

Then, authorities found three headless bodies inside a burned SUV in a
ditch outside Palomas near the Casas Grandes highway. A message left
with the heads said the slain men were extortionists.

The victims had not been identified.