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Pinal County Sheriff's office
This image provided Saturday by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, shows the vehicle where five dead bodies found burned inside in Pinal County's Vekol Valley area, west of Casa Grande, Ariz.
Five bodies burned beyond recognition in a charred vehicle discovered in the southern Arizona desert appear to be victims of drug-smuggling violence, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Saturday.
Deputies are searching for suspects in the killings just west of Casa Grande, in desolate Vekol Valley between Phoenix and Tucson, NBC Station KVOA of Tucson reported.
Around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, a border patrol agent saw a Ford Expedition pulled over on Interstate 8, Babeu said. The vehicle had gone airborne off the interstate, he said. When the agent approached the SUV, the driver took off.
The smoldering Expedition was found about 8:30 a.m. Four bodies were found in the cargo area and one was in the backseat, Babeu said. None were in the driver or passenger seats, he said.
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He said evidence pointed to drug smuggling, but he did not specify what the evidence was.
"This is pretty significant," he said. "Given all these indicators, you don't have to be a homicide detective to add up all this information."
Pinal County deputies were involved in more than 350 high-speed pursuits last year, and Babeu said most of those involved cartel members. There have been shootings, the bodies of murder victims have been left in the desert and just this week, several loads of drugs were confiscated, he said.
"This happens far too often and usually our involvement is just a small percentage of what really goes on," the sheriff said. "Is it concerning? Is it troubling? Yes it is."
Babeu said investigators will try to determine whether the victims were dead before the SUV was set ablaze or whether they were alive when the fire was started.
"Clearly these people were murdered, but we don't know the manner of death," he said.
He said killings related to Mexican drug cartels are rare so close to Phoenix, The Arizona Republic newspaper reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Why don`t we just mine the border in depth for like 2-3 kilometers with all sorts of nasty cheap stuff then anyone getting through that wins automatic citizenship after completing a hitch in the military?
We`d have some bad a s s infrantry yo, `kinda like starship troopers...
How many stories like this will it take before the government steps up & secures the US/Mexico border. You heard the stories of the massacres happening almost every day in Mexico. All those who are working to let the status of the border remain a revolving door of criminals will bring this activity to a town near you. Do you want your family in the crossfire? Don't be politically correct, be actually correct & insist the border be secured. Make noise. Vote.
Americans have to march on Mexican embassies and demand that they be thrown out of the US for supplying papers to illegals to help them steal US resources. Mexico is doing nothing to keep Mexicans on their side of the border so it is easy to see that they are part of the attack on the United States.
Those damned EXPLODING GAS TANKS!! Just like in the Ford Pinto. Where's Ralph Nader?
Well, you sure can't say that the Obama administration has been big on 'law and order' . Then again, you can't say that about the Bush administration either. Maybe Romney will do better.
There is a revolution going on in Mexico and the drug lords are winning...and our government acts as though nothing is happening.
It is incorrect to write that our government acts as though nothing is happening. We are doing things--they just haven't been effective. Why is this important? Because, doing something costs money. Whether it's increased border patrols with high tech devices, increased deportation of illegal immigrants, or the war on drugs, there is a price to be paid. We need our money to be effectively spent. So, don't obfuscate the truth of the ineffectiveness of our current policies with Mexico--that just hides how big a waste our expenditures have been.
You are correct -- lack of money. Getting 20 million PLUS illegals off the welfare payroll would be a good start !!! One only needs to look at California -- a bankrupt, mostly spanish speaking welfare state.
I'm trying to make sense of the first few paragraphs of this article. A border patrol agent saw an Expedition pulled over at 0430 hours. The article says that the agent said it went flying off the highway. How did he know if he didn't witness it? The driver ran away. The agent investigated? Hold that thought!
At 0830 hours an SUV was discovered. Five bodies in it, no one in the driver's seat. Are these supposed to be the same vehicle? So, the border patrol agent didn't look in the vehicle and see the five dead bodies at 0430 hours? Or were the bodies later placed into the vehicle, then it was lit on fire? The article leaves a few questions that, while there is still an investigation to be made, could be clarified.
I had to go back and read it again.
The driver DROVE off and got away. Later they found what was left of the SUV, with the murdered people in it.
mark tha t is quite screwed up. i cannot make sense of that either. read it 3 times but it still says the same thing!
Mark... it was written per the by-line by "msnbc.com staff". You know, the ones who have trouble spelling the word "a" without a dictionary and thesaurus.
hey mark, if u had a chance to read my column at #51, i also have many of the same questions.
I am still trying to figure out how he escaped. the fact they found his smoldering vehicle 4 hrs after
initial contact, means they were searching for him for quite a while. or were they? this thing was ablaze in the dark for several hours in middle of no where. where the hell was the choper? a Ford Expedition with 6 or more bodies managed to elude a police cruiser with just 1 officer behind the wheel. what was he doing, the speed limit when chased after them. he must have forgot to use his radio also...there is a lot that needs explaining here. Im afraid there is something more sinister going on at the border on our side. and its more than just lack of man power. remember were talking about a huge amount of cash here. look how thats corrupted mexico's law enforcement and even D.C. dont forget, our elected officials are also in love with drugs, which makes them equally responsible for mess we created down there. are we gonna fix or not?
As The Illegal Invasion of America via The Unsecured Mexican Border rolls on ....
( The good news: 5 less Obama votes )
What makes these Republican TeaBilly's so Evil and Violent? Is it da Sarah Palin Books?
Any word from the NRA?
Shouldn't we have Drones Patrolling our Borders?
I guess the Mexican drug cartels are out of control, seems like no one can stop them.
It's TIME for a brand new government. The federal government we have is NOT working.
the drug traffic from mexico is a much greater threat to our way of life than iraq ever was. we need to take over mexico and end the drug trafficing. as part of the u.s., mexico would then have to pay a decent wage there and that would end or slow down the immigration to the u.s. for better wages and we wouldnt have a thousand miles of border to patrol that cost millions. sounds easy right? who would lose? big business that moved their plants to mexico for cheap labor. and therein lies the problem. politicans here and there are getting paid off to keep the jobs at he lowest possible wage they can get. remember NAFTA ? we were told that moving jobs would keep the prices down. has the prices gone down since that?
It looks like 5 fewer illegal hispanic immigrants who won't be peddling dope in this country.
If their heads are missing, then murder may be what killed these people, unless of course it was just another mass suicide of 'End Timers' heading out to their 'Mother Ship'.
Too bad Americans don't stop using drugs. That would end the cartels in a hurry. What happened to those vaccines they were working on that made people not get high on any drug or alcohol. Besides, a natural high is so much better.
Drugs aren't the only business the cartels are conducting. Next time you get your car washed, eat at a restaurant or stay in a motel, look at the workers and remember that nearly all of them are here because they were smuggled in with help from a cartel.
Why do the police even bother. If the suspects are illegal aliens AG Holder and his boss want them protected. There is no federal concern that cartels are entrenching themselves in our country. Maybe we can get Mexico's Calderon to come give another speech to our Congress about how all this violence is our fault.
They refused to let Babeau make love to them,so he got his other lover to take charge.Arizonas back in the saddle again.We all know Babeau is into hispanic men!!!
simple way to stop the smuggling, whenyou catch the smugglers , kill them the taket hemto the mexican borders and hang thier dead bodies on a post, for the other smugglers to see, then whent he come to see what is going on? shoot them and leave thier bodies to the vultures, very simple plan, or hire some good snipers, kill em whent eh cross the border, simple, use rpg's and sidewinder middles on thier worthless lives, but eric holder would say that is nice and put a stop to it,, why? holder is a pure coward, isnt a real man, more like a big black sissy boi
I guess that is 5 less Walmart workers that da Republican TeaBilly Lobbyist were trying to Deliver.
Sarah Palin could see this van from her Kitchen Window.
You BetCha....Fer Sure.
So Obama, Holder and Janet, a former AZ governer that should know (she claims she doesn't), how's that securer than ever border working out for you? Still want to make those murdering scum citizens don't you? It's time to seal the border, deport ALL illegals, put in mine fields and machinegun towers, just like the Berlin Wall, except they will be pointing south, with orders to shoot on site!
The real crime is in Washington where Eric Holder presides over a Department of Justice that could care less about the safety of the American people. However, things will soon change. Next January, when Mr. Holder leaves office along with his less than esteemed boss, Barack Obama, he will be on the receiving end of the American judicial system when he's indicted and faces charges for his roll in helping to arm Mexican drug cartels. Mr. Holder, when you ignore your sworn Constitutional duty you will be facing some dire consequences.
Mexican drug violence spill over! If the vicitms were all brown, who gives a crap!
Way to go America! Your constant support either active or passive of prohibition has caused yet 5 more casualties in this world. If you have ever been to the border towns in mexico you would understand what is right next door festering because of our prohibition laws.
border security is simple, spray a 1 or 2 mile strip on border to kill all vegatation, put signs up, free fire zone, train our snipers and national guard here, place every quater mile or so, more in rough areas, fire at will, leave um lay where they fall,
mrchach, the blame lies with Mexico period. The blame for not sealing the border lies with liberals who don't understand the need to protect our nation and society. It seems that they just don't get it do they?
Don't worry, these killers are taken care of. Mike took care of one, and Hank took care of the other. =D