DATE=1/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NARCO GRAVES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258274
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=



VOICED AT=

INTRO:  The search for bodies in clandestine graves 
near the US/Mexico border has now come to an end.  
Mexican officials say only nine bodies were found, 
seven of which have been tentatively identified.  
VOA's Greg Flakus has more from our Mexico City 
bureau.



TEXT:  Mexican officials say their investigation 
confirms that the nine dead men they found in remote 
locations near the border city of Ciudad Juarez were 
victims of the drug cartel headed by the Amado Carillo 
Fuentes family. However, they did not reveal the names 
of any victims. Investigators say six of the dead men 
had been bound with duct tape before being buried.  
Four of the victims had been shot, but the cause of 
death for the others has yet to be determined.

Forensic experts from the U-S Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, or FBI, worked with Mexican agents at 
the site, under a special invitation from the Mexican 
government.  The remains were examined at an FBI lab 
across the border in the city of El Paso, Texas, but 
the bodies are now back in Mexico.

When the investigation began in late November it drew 
great media attention because an FBI official said 
that as many as 100 bodies could be buried at the 
sites near Juarez.  This was based on an informant's 
tip and the fact that more than 100 people have 
disappeared in the El Paso/Juarez area in the past few 
years.

But Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo says the 
number of bodies found is not the most important 
aspect of this investigation.

            /// Madrazo act  (Spanish) ///

He says he will not say if nine bodies are a lot or a 
few.  What he says is important is that these remains 
show the level of brutality and violence of which the 
criminal organizations are capable.

Mr. Madrazo says his agents have detained five people 
in connection with the investigation but he provided 
no further details.  He also says investigators found 
a drug laboratory at one of the ranches where bodies 
were buried. 

Investigators believe the bodies found near Juarez 
were the result of turf battles between drug smuggling 
organizations.  They also believe many of the people 
who disappeared in the area in recent years were 
victims of drug wars but they decline to speculate on 
where or when those bodies may be found. (Signed)


NEB/PT



20-Jan-2000 19:26 PM EDT (21-Jan-2000 0026 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.