FBIS3-21834 "jptdd011__l94046"
JPRS-TDD-94-011-L Document Type:JPRS Document Title:Narcotics 14 March 1994
LATIN AMERICA MEXICO

Villagers `Annoyed' by Poppy Destruction Kill 3 Policemen in Guerrero

PA0803031094 Mexico City Radio ACIR Network in Spanish 0000 GMT 8 Mar 94 PA0803031094 Mexico City Radio ACIR Network Language: Spanish Article Type:BFN [Telephone report by Baltazar Jimenez, reporter for EL SOL DE CHILPANCINGO newspaper, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero State; from the "ACIR Radio News" newscast] [Text] Announcer: We reported to you at the start of this cast that three Guerrero State public security policemen were gunned down by shotgun fire and six others are seriously wounded. They were ambushed in the pre-dawn hours today [as heard] by a dangerous gang of criminals who operate in the Xapotitlan, Tablas Municipality, located high up in the mountains, according to information supplied by Manuel Noreno Gonzalez, chief of Guerrero State public security. Good afternoon, Baltazar. Jimenez: Good afternoon. Announcer: Baltazar, what happened this morning? Jimenez: According to a note by reporter Alfredo Guzman, several public security patrols were ambushed yesterday by excited villagers who were annoyed because several poppy plantations were destroyed. Three policemen were killed in the incident. Each received more than 15 shots in addition to the coup d'grace. The disturbances took place in the Atlixtlac Municipality. Alejandrino Campo Lezma, regional public security commander in Tlapa de Comonfort told the Prosecutor General's Office authorities that Saturday [as heard] night at about 0400, it was decided to carry out a patrol between the village of (Zaltizagua) and Oxtoepec, Atlixtlac Municipality. Campo said that two patrols made up of 10 men in one and seven in the other, began walking at night and on the way found several poppy plantations, which they destroyed. The commander said that the plantations measured 10 meters by 20 meters and they found one or two every kilometer. In his statement it was established that it was about 2000 on Saturday night when they heard several rifle shots and the policemen hid as best they could under trees. They ran until they reached Oxtoepec. There they made a head count and found that three were missing. They immediately spoke with the village police chief who promised to intercede with the alleged attackers to allow the policemen to look for their three companions who had disappeared in the shoot-out. The commander stated that while speaking with the village police chief he saw several armed persons who arrived behind them and spoke in a dialect. After several minutes of negotiation, the armed persons allowed a search for the three missing public security policemen. The villagers in Oxtoepec allowed 10 policemen to enter, but only unarmed, to search for their companions. The bullet-riddled bodies were found at the clash site. The dead policemen were each missing their AR-15 rifles and their three spare clips. The searchers say that they found no less than 70 heavily armed persons who threatened to shoot and kill them. [Words indistinct] who moments before had negotiated their entry, so the policemen were not harmed. Yesterday at about 1900 a telephone call was received at the Chipalcingo coroner's office, telling them to prepare to receive more bodies, because seemingly another clash had taken place, causing the death of several public security policemen in several villages near Axtlistac Municipality. Lastly, this was not confirmed. Announcer: This is one of the most tangled areas of the Guerrero mountains? Jimenez: Yes, of course. Announcer: It is one of the more distant areas? Jimenez: Yes. The dead policemen are Second Commander Bertoldo Flores Radilla, Second Commander Artemio Salmeron Quinonez, and Armando Luna Venancio. Their bodies were claimed by their relatives and transferred to their places of origin. There is no information whether any arrests have been made because as it is Sunday there were no public security spokesmen to report what would be done and what action would be taken to arrest the guilty. Announcer: Baltazar, the bodies are already in Chilpancingo? Jimenez: This is not yet known.