Eleven bodies found at drug gang house

Eleven bodies have been found buried behind a house near the Mexican border with the US which was apparently used by drug smugglers.

Three bags of clothing were found at the house in a middle-class area of the town of Ciudad Juarez. Some of it was identified by relatives of two people who disappeared two weeks ago.

Investigators said the property appeared to be a safe house for Humberto Santillan Tabares, who was arrested on 15 January in El Paso, Texas. Mexican investigators have identified Mr Santillan as one of the chief aides of Vicente Carrillo, who is alleged to be one of Mexico's biggest drug traffickers.

The authorities began digging up the garden of the house yesterday. Seven bodies were discovered on Monday, and four at the weekend.

Neighbours said the house belonged to a couple with two children. They said they often saw people dressed as police officers coming and going, but noted no other strange activities. Drug groups often pose as police.

Police said the victims found in the backyard may have had ties to drug smugglers. Some of them had been strangled or suffocated.

America's Drug Enforcement Administration says Mr Carrillo is one of the key figures who took over a Ciudad Juarez-based drug organisation that had been led by his brother Amado, who died in 1997 after a plastic surgery operation in Mexico City.

The bodies appear to be connected to a recent wave of drug-related violence. The authorities say the recent arrests of several leading drug traffickers created a power vacuum. The resulting turf battle has left dozens dead along the border.