Murder cases claim 12 victims in Mexico

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-04 11:53

MEXICO CITY -- Twelve people were murdered on Tuesday in various parts of Mexico, the police said.

Three people were killed near a supermarket in Juarez city, in the state of Chihuahua, which shares a border with the United States.

A man and a woman were shot in the parking lot of the market, while another man was killed in the market in front of a number of shoppers, the police said.

In two other cases in the city, a man was shot dead in his house and another in his car.

Since January1 this year, about 200 people have been kiled in Juarez, which is considered to be the most violent city in Mexico.

In the town of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, two rival gangs exchanged gunfire during a horse race, leaving three people dead. Three municipal policemen were also injured in the attack.

In the state of Zacatecas, the director of the Municipal Police of Villanueva, Romulo Madrid Olave, a 41-year-old ex-military officer, was shot dead.

Witnesses said Madrid was killed by a group of unknown gunmen, who shot him about 25 times with 9mm-caliber handguns.

Meanwhile, the General Prosecutor's Office of Justice in the state of Quintana Roo reported it found the bodies of Brigade General Mauro Enrique Tello Quinones and two other military officers on the Cancun-Merida highway.

The police are investigating whether their murders were linked to organized crime in the country.

According to official figures, at least 72 military officers have died in anti-drug raids in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon declared war against drug trafficking.