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News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2007
2 Federal Agents Gunned Down in Mexico Associated Press go to original
| This March 16, 2007 file photo provided by Mexico's Attorney General's office shows the largest seizure of cash in the history of drug enforcement, around US$ 205 million seized at Zhenli Ye Gon's home, a Chinese-Mexican businessman in Mexico City. (AP/PGR) | Mexico City - Two federal agents who took part in a raid that discovered $205 million in cash in a Mexico City mansion were found beaten and shot to death in southern Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.
The bodies of Josue Hernandez, 32, and Anibal Sanchez, 30, both agents with Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigation, were found Tuesday in Guerrero state, where they were gathering intelligence on drug traffickers, the Public Safety Department said in a news release.
Both officers took part in the seizure of more than 19 tons of a chemical intended for methamphetamine cartels in Mexico. They were also in the team of agents who raided Ye Gon's mansion where authorities in March found more than $205 million in cash hidden in closets, the news release said.
The seizures led to last month's arrest of Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in a suburban Washington restaurant.
He is accused in the United States and Mexico of supplying pseudoephedrine to Mexican cartels who then used the drug to make methamphetamine.
Ye Gon has said the chemicals imported by his company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, were legitimate and intended for cold medicines. Ye Gon's lawyers said he has nothing to do with illegal drugs.
The Mexican agents were assigned to high-risk tasks and were "outstanding" members of the federal police, the department said.
Guerrero, which includes the resorts cities of Zihuatanejo and Acapulco, has suffered from a wave of violence including decapitations, shootings and grenade explosions that authorities attribute to warring drug-trafficking gangs. |
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