Three federal agents die; officials suspect drug assassinations
 
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -- The bodies of nine people, including three federal agents, were found Thursday in two separate areas near Cancun, apparent victims of drug killings, state police said.

Five bodies were found on a dirt road 10 miles south of the mega-resort, all shot in the head and one with his hands tied behind his back, Assistant State Attorney General Luis Alfonso Chi told a news conference. An abandoned car was found nearby.

Three of the victims -- Luis Octavio Guzman, Roberto Alcantara and Fernando Perez -- were federal police, Chi said.

The other two were identified as Leonardo Martin Flores, a jeweler, and Eduardo Solis, whose hands were tied. Solis' occupation was unclear.

Another four charred bodies were found in the trunk of a burned-out car parked in an illegal dump near the highway between Cancun and the city of Merida, 10 6 miles from the Cancun airport.

Police said the killings were reported by two, separate unidentified emergency calls Thursday morning.

Officials had no motive or suspects in the cases, but the weapons used and the execution-style killings appeared to be related to drugs. State and federal officials were investigating.

The Caribbean-coast state of Quintana Roo was a major drug trafficking route throughout the 1990s, when former state Gov. Mario Villanueva allegedly helped Mexico's Juarez cartel move tons of Colombian cocaine by boat, airplane and truck along the coast.

That drug ring was supposedly broken up with the arrests of Villanueva and reputed kingpin Alcides Ramon Magana in 2001, both of whom are still facing trial.

The news of Thursday's killings came as federal police in Mexico City protested in front of their offices, blaming their superiors for failing to rescue two of their colleagues, who were burned alive by an angry mob Tuesday night in the capital.

The mob thought three undercover agents investigating drug dealing in a town on Mexico City's southern outskirts were potential kidnappers, after spotting them taking photos of a local school.

The third agent survived the attack and was being transferred Thursday to a military hospital, where he was to receive treatment for severe kidney damage.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.