Zetas drug cartel kill and slaughter Guatemalan prosecutor working on massacre case

Zetas drug cartel kill and slaughter Guatemalan prosecutor working on massacre case

2011-05-26 06:02:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

COBAN, GUATEMALA (BNO NEWS) -- The dismembered body of a Guatemalan prosecutor investigating the recent massacre of 27 people was found in the central region of the country, officials said Wednesday.

Allan Stowlinsky Vidaurre, 36, assistant public prosecutor in Coban, Alta Verapaz, was killed and slaughtered as his remains were found in five plastic bags placed around the Public Ministry's Interior Department.

A message from Mexican-based drug cartel 'Los Zetas' Z200 bloc - which has been linked to the May 15 massacre of 27 people - was found with the body.

"This is for all those who go wrong with Z 200," the message said. "I told them one by one that I would be killing them. Go ahead and think you are 'gringos' (Americans). If they are willing to fight, leave them alone and don't be stupid because you will end up f--ked."

"I'm collecting the 500 kilograms (1100 pounds) you took off of me," the message continued. "I will continue collecting the debt, take care of yourselves, sincerely Z 200."

Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz during a press conference said authorities had taken a blow from organized crime and it had caused them damage. "They have a clear objective by sending a message to provoke fear in us, but we will not back down."

In addition to working on the May 15 case, Stowlinsky Vidaurre participated in a case in March, which resulted with the confiscation of 432 kilograms (952 pounds) of cocaine in Raxruha, Chisec, Alta Verapaz, which the Z200 message made reference to.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom expressed "deep outrage" regarding Stowlinsky Vidaurre's murder, stating his full support to the country's Public Ministry.

The government of Guatemala also announced that security reinforcements would be deployed to the investigative agency's headquarters and its branches throughout the country.

On May 15, around 200 armed men, members of the Z 200 bloc of Mexican drug gang Los Zetas, arrived at Los Cocos farm, which is located in the municipality of Libertad, Peten, and carried out the massacre of 27 people, among them two women.

According to investigative reports, all 27 people - 25 of them decapitated - were allegedly working for Guatemalan drug lord Otto Salguero, 50, who has been unaccounted for since the killings. The assassins killed the laborers as they asked for the whereabouts of Salguero.

During the past two weeks, Guatemalan authorities have arrested some 20 suspected members of Los Zetas in a number of security operations carried out throughout the country. Among the arrested are three Mexican nationals.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-26