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A Mass Grave and Huge Marijuana Seizure Gives Mexico's Drug War a Bad Day
Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent
Acapulco, Mexico (AHN) - Mexico’s war against drug cartels took a turn for the worse this week after a mass grave was unearthed near Acapulco and police seized a near record amount of marijuana being smuggled into the United States near San Diego.
Hours before the announcement that nearly 30 tons of marijuana were found along with a sophisticated tunnel under the border, Mexican police were notified of the mass grave by an anonymous caller.
Under a sign at the gravesite outside of Tres Palos that said, “The people they killed are buried here,” police found the bodies of 18 Mexican men.
They are believed to be part of a tourist group that was abducted at gunpoint Sept. 30 while visiting Acapulco from the neighboring state of Michoacan.
Hours earlier, a YouTube video had been posted showing two men with their hands apparently tied behind their backs speaking with an unseen interrogator. They said they killed “the Michoacanos.”
The bodies of the two men being interrogated later were found on top of the mass grave.
They said in the video that they killed the Michoacano men in revenge against La Familia, a powerful drug cartel based in Michoacan state. The sign over the grave was signed by Acapulco’s Independent Cartel, a small drug gang that is suspected in several assassinations in the past two months.
The men whose bodies were found in the grave are believed to be mechanics who took vacations each year in Acapulco. Police said they had no criminal records and were not linked to any drug cartels.
Twenty men were in the group but only 18 bodies were found in the grave. The whereabouts of the other two are unknown.
A government announcement identifying the bodies is scheduled for Friday, after the families of the men all have been notified.
About 1,000 people staged a demonstration Sunday asking police to find their missing family members and friends from among the mechanics.
Katy Rodriguez, a niece of some of the missing men, sent a message to the kidnappers through the media saying, “To the people who have them, we ask them to have mercy on them, on us.”
The mass murder has dealt another disaster to Acapulco, one of Mexico’s most prosperous cities.
Acapulco Mayor Jose Luis Avila Sanchez recently suggested that residents stay indoors at night for personal security.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon paid homage to Mexican troops fighting the drug cartels during a speech Thursday in nearby Mexicali.
“We will never give up or allow ourselves to live subjected to the violence or at the mercy of anyone,” he said.
As the Mexican news media broadcast the story of the mass grave, U.S. and Mexican police announced <span style="font-weight: bold">a large seizure of marijuana from warehouses at Tijuana and a site south of San Diego.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents estimated the value of the marijuana at $20 million.
A tunnel ran the length of six football fields linking the warehouses on both sides of the border with rails, lighting and ventilation.
A DEA statement described the tunnel as “crawl-space sized.”
ICE agents had been watching the warehouse on the U.S. side when they saw a tractor trailer drive away.
They alerted the California Highway Patrol, whose officers stopped the truck and found about 10 tons of marijuana inside.
ICE agents obtained a search warrant for the warehouse, where they found about 15 more tons of marijuana and a hole to the tunnel leading into Mexico.
Mexican police alerted by U.S. law officers then found more than four tons in the warehouse on their side of the border.
The drug seizure is believed to be the second biggest in U.S. history. The biggest was the seizure of 33 tons of marijuana by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 2008 in Oregon.
“Not only will this seizure significantly disrupt the responsible cartel by stripping from it millions in potential drug profits, but it will also keep this dangerous and addictive drug off our streets and out of our neighborhoods,” DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a statement.
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Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent
Acapulco, Mexico (AHN) - Mexico’s war against drug cartels took a turn for the worse this week after a mass grave was unearthed near Acapulco and police seized a near record amount of marijuana being smuggled into the United States near San Diego.
Hours before the announcement that nearly 30 tons of marijuana were found along with a sophisticated tunnel under the border, Mexican police were notified of the mass grave by an anonymous caller.
Under a sign at the gravesite outside of Tres Palos that said, “The people they killed are buried here,” police found the bodies of 18 Mexican men.
They are believed to be part of a tourist group that was abducted at gunpoint Sept. 30 while visiting Acapulco from the neighboring state of Michoacan.
Hours earlier, a YouTube video had been posted showing two men with their hands apparently tied behind their backs speaking with an unseen interrogator. They said they killed “the Michoacanos.”
The bodies of the two men being interrogated later were found on top of the mass grave.
They said in the video that they killed the Michoacano men in revenge against La Familia, a powerful drug cartel based in Michoacan state. The sign over the grave was signed by Acapulco’s Independent Cartel, a small drug gang that is suspected in several assassinations in the past two months.
The men whose bodies were found in the grave are believed to be mechanics who took vacations each year in Acapulco. Police said they had no criminal records and were not linked to any drug cartels.
Twenty men were in the group but only 18 bodies were found in the grave. The whereabouts of the other two are unknown.
A government announcement identifying the bodies is scheduled for Friday, after the families of the men all have been notified.
About 1,000 people staged a demonstration Sunday asking police to find their missing family members and friends from among the mechanics.
Katy Rodriguez, a niece of some of the missing men, sent a message to the kidnappers through the media saying, “To the people who have them, we ask them to have mercy on them, on us.”
The mass murder has dealt another disaster to Acapulco, one of Mexico’s most prosperous cities.
Acapulco Mayor Jose Luis Avila Sanchez recently suggested that residents stay indoors at night for personal security.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon paid homage to Mexican troops fighting the drug cartels during a speech Thursday in nearby Mexicali.
“We will never give up or allow ourselves to live subjected to the violence or at the mercy of anyone,” he said.
As the Mexican news media broadcast the story of the mass grave, U.S. and Mexican police announced <span style="font-weight: bold">a large seizure of marijuana from warehouses at Tijuana and a site south of San Diego.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents estimated the value of the marijuana at $20 million.
A tunnel ran the length of six football fields linking the warehouses on both sides of the border with rails, lighting and ventilation.
A DEA statement described the tunnel as “crawl-space sized.”
ICE agents had been watching the warehouse on the U.S. side when they saw a tractor trailer drive away.
They alerted the California Highway Patrol, whose officers stopped the truck and found about 10 tons of marijuana inside.
ICE agents obtained a search warrant for the warehouse, where they found about 15 more tons of marijuana and a hole to the tunnel leading into Mexico.
Mexican police alerted by U.S. law officers then found more than four tons in the warehouse on their side of the border.
The drug seizure is believed to be the second biggest in U.S. history. The biggest was the seizure of 33 tons of marijuana by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 2008 in Oregon.
“Not only will this seizure significantly disrupt the responsible cartel by stripping from it millions in potential drug profits, but it will also keep this dangerous and addictive drug off our streets and out of our neighborhoods,” DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a statement.
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