U.S. Charges Alleged Drug Cartel Leader in 10 Deaths

Federal officials on Thursday charged the alleged leader of a powerful Mexican drug cartel in the killing of a Mexican police official and nine other people, many of whose bodies were unearthed last year in a massive excavation along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Authorities describe Vicente Carrillo Fuentes as overlord of the Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, drug cartel and allege he orchestrated the slayings to prevent informants from aiding drug agents. He already is a fugitive in a 1997 drug trafficking case.

Authorities in El Paso, where Thursday’s 46-count indictment was returned, said they believe Carrillo Fuentes is in hiding in Mexico and may have altered his appearance using cosmetic surgery.

“Stepping up the pressure definitely affects Vicente Carrillo Fuentes,” U.S. Atty. Bill Blagg said at a joint news conference with a representative from the Mexican attorney general’s office. “Eventually, he’ll be captured or he’ll be killed by his rivals.”

The murder charges were the denouement of a highly publicized drama last fall, when scores of FBI agents, Mexican soldiers and Mexican federal police descended on three ranches in the Chihuahuan desert. A U.S. government informant had reported that as many as 100 people were buried on the properties.

Nine bodies were found. Carrillo Fuentes has been charged with killing seven victims, including three U.S. citizens, two Mexican citizens, one resident alien from Mexico and one Colombian, U.S. Justice Department officials said. The identity of two victims remains unknown, so no charges have been filed in connection with those deaths.

Carrillo Fuentes also is accused of ordering the murder of Jose Refugio Rubalcava, the former head of the Juarez State Police, and his two sons. Their bodies were found in 1994, wedged in the trunk of an empty car on the international Bridge of the Americas leading into El Paso.

The cartel leader allegedly ordered the slayings to keep Rubalcava and the others from cooperating with U.S. drug investigators, authorities said Thursday.

The indictment against Carrillo Fuentes incorporates charges from the 1997 drug trafficking and money laundering case.

Carrillo Fuentes also faces outstanding drug charges in his homeland, but officials with the Mexican attorney general’s office said they are unaware of any plans to charge him in the desert murders.

Carrillo Fuentes is the younger brother of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, an infamous drug trafficker who died in 1997 during a bungled cosmetic surgery.

The elder brother was known as “Lord of the Skies” for his use of planes to transport cocaine and marijuana across the border. After his death, the border became a battlefield for rival drug cartels. Dozens died in the struggle or the cross-fire.

Authorities say that in recent years, Carrillo Fuentes increasingly has assumed his brother’s former tight control of drug trafficking in the El Paso and Ciudad Juarez region.

A coalition of federal agents--including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the IRS--has been working closely with Mexican authorities on the desert murders for nearly a year.

“Getting the evidence, from the perspective of U.S. law enforcement, is a difficult process. It clearly represents significant work,” said University of Miami professor Bruce Bagley, who teaches international studies.

“But if you want this in context, there are at least five major [trafficking] families operating in Mexico. What we have seen is that, being able to get one kingpin doesn’t slow the business down.”

Authorities identified the three U.S. victims as Guillermo Jesus Rojo, Jesus Alonzo Provencio and Javier Aguilar Molina, but gave few details.

“I’m not going to discuss that,” said Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in El Paso. “Ultimately, you can see that these charges were leveled against somebody who doesn’t like individuals who cooperate with federal agents.”

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Times staff writer Mary Beth Sheridan in Mexico City contributed to this story.