Violence Rules in Mexico

An investigator probing the deaths of 72 migrants in violence-racked Tamaulipas state in northern Mexico has turned up missing. The massacre victims, apparently people trying to reach the U.S. border, were reportedly slain by members of the notorious Zetas drug gang. —JCL

Los Angeles Times:

... Authorities in Tamaulipas state said they had so far identified the remains of 31 of the massacre victims and determined that they were from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Brazil.

Tamaulipas officials said Roberto Suarez, an agent for the state prosecutor’s office involved in the investigation, went missing Wednesday. That was a day after Mexican marines found the slain migrants on a ranch outside the town of San Fernando.

A San Fernando police officer was also reported missing Friday. The case is now run by the federal attorney general’s office.

The disappearances and car blasts appeared to be further signs of the lawlessness that prevails in Tamaulipas, a stronghold of drug traffickers across the border from Texas.

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AP / Guillermo Arias

A federal police armored vehicle stands guard outside a funeral home in the Mexican city of Reynosa, where the remains of some of the 72 migrants allegedly slain by a drug gang were taken.