Perilous Times
Marines find 72 bodies in northern Mexico
By MARK STEVENSON
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 25, 2010; 2:41 AM
MEXICO CITY -- Mexican marines found the dumped bodies of 72 people at
a rural location in northern Mexico following a shootout with suspected
drug cartel gunmen that left one marine and three suspects dead, the
Navy reported late Tuesday.
The cadavers of 58 men and 14 women were found at a spot near the Gulf
coast south of the border city of Matamoros. It appears to be the
largest drug-cartel body dumping ground found in Mexico since President
Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug trafficking in late
2006.
"The federal government categorically condemns the barbarous acts
committed by criminal organizations," The Navy said in a statement.
"Society as a whole should condemn these type of acts, which illustrate
the absolute necessity to continue fighting crime with all rigor."
Mexican drug cartels often use vacant lots, ranches or mine shafts to
dump the bodies of executed rivals or kidnap victims. The Navy did not
give details on the victims' identities, who had killed them or whether
the bodies had been buried.
The discovery of bodies came about when Marines manning a checkpoint on
a highway in northern Tamaulipas state were approached by a wounded man
who said he had been attacked by cartel gunmen at a nearby ranch. The
man was placed under the protection of federal authorities.
Navy aircraft were dispatched to the scene, and when the gunmen saw
them, they opened fire on the marines and tried to flee in a convoy of
vehicles.
In the ensuing shootout, one marine and three suspected gunmen were
killed. Navy personnel seized 21 assault rifles, shotguns and rifles,
and detained a minor.
The youth, who was apparently part of the gang, was handed over to
civilian prosecutors.
When marines searched the area, near the town of San Fernando,
Tamaulipas, they found the bodies. It was unclear whether the victims
had been killed at the same time or separately, and the Navy did not
say when they were found.
The area has been wracked by bloody turf battles between the Gulf drug
cartel and their one-time allies, the Zetas drug gang.
In May, authorities discovered 55 bodies in an abandoned mine near
Taxco, a colonial-era city south of Mexico City that is popular with
international tourists.
In July, investigators found 51 corpses in two days of digging in a
field near a trash dump outside the northern city of Monterrey. Many of
those found were believed to have been rival traffickers. But cartels
often dispose of the bodies of kidnap victims in such dumping grounds.
More than 28,000 people have been killed in violence tied to Mexico's
drug war since the offensive began.