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Show MONDAY, DEC. 6,2004 15 STATESMA^RVORLD & NATION Growing drug war brews in glitzy Cancun while we fix your car AP Photo/Israel Leal BY MARK STEVENSON Associated Press CANCUN, Mexico Behind the glitzy playgrounds of Cancun is a growing drug war, fueled by widespread police corruption, the partial disruption of once-popular trafficking routes through Haiti and a sudden turf battle between two of the country's main drug gangs. Three years after authorities thought they broke up the cocaine trade here, nine people have turned up dead, revealing a smuggling ring involving corruption at all levels of government and that took even federal investigators by surprise. The discovery brings back memories of the dark days of the 1590s, when one gang — the Juarez cartel — moved huge amounts of cocaine along Mexico's Caribbean coast, allegedly with the protection of the state's former governor, Mario Villanueva, arrested in 2001 on drug charges. But now, a shadowy chain of events involving several gangs has led to the killing of three federal agents and two police informants, the kidnapping and wounding of two federal investigators, and the discovery of four as yet unidentified bodies in the trunk of a burned car. More than a dozen local and federal police agents have in Style MEXICAN FEDERAL POLICE frisk people during a night time patrol in the periphery of the resort city of Cancun, Mexico on Friday. A resurgence of the drug trade on Mexico's Caribbean coast has brought back violence such as the execution style killing of nine people last week, including some federal police. been arrested, adding to mounting evidence that police, business and local power figures are linked to the drug trade. "It's like a little game to see who can get the drugs first" between the army, the navy, or traffickers in speed boats, said Donald Morgan, a fisherman and tour guide who moved to the coast from Washington state in 1576. The drugs are destined for the United States, not the millions of Americans who visit Cancun annually. U.S. officials say there have been no reports so far of U.S. tourists caught up in the wholesale Gulf Coast drug trade and accompanying violence. Mainly the victims and Have an accident and now you have no way to get to work? We Have The Answer! Hire us to fix ycur car and you gel to clr^e th<s one! Thats right Now we have 3 PT Cruisers for you to Drive while we fix yours. • • • • Professional Autatoody & Part. Glass Replacement Frane S t o g h t c w g Hewy Coffioon Repair We Handle All Insurance Claims Professional Collision Repair 1500 North 600 West • Logan • 435-787-8231 players have been Mexican police and police informants — though exactly why they were killed remains unclear. Local officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said traffickers thought police had stolen a shipment of 11 pounds of heroin during a Nov. 9 raid on a house in Cancun. Similar crackdowns in the past apparently shifted trafficking patterns only temporarily. Bruce Bagley, professor of International Studies at the University of Miami, said the defeat of Mexico's ruling party in national elections four years ago also broke up old, well-established lines of corruption. Young Ukrainian activists find love in tent camp Tuition hike got you worried? Let Convergys help! BY MARIA DAN1LOVA Convergys paid over $480,000 in tuition reimbursement to students in Logan last year. Call today and put your computer and people skills to good use. Associated Press KIEV, Ukraine — Vasyl Fylosov and Sofiya Kirichenko came to Kiev from different regions to join round-theclock protests in support of opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. Result: two golden rings and a bride's veil in the oppositions signature color, AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev orange. PAVLO ARTYUKH and his bride Rita share a tender moment as they prepare to a wedFreezing temding ceremony in a tent camp downtown Kiev Saturday. Freezing steeper and the lack of peratures, close amenities such as hot water and a clean bathroom only helped create a unique quarters and the basic romantic atmosphere for thousands of young people who settled in a sprawling tent lack of basic camp on Kiev's main square. amenities such as hot water and orange curtain, and I had an orange shirt on, clean bathrooms have helped create a unique entirely covered by friends' signatures and variromantic atmosphere for thousands of young ous slogans," Vasyl said. people who settled in the sprawling opposition "On that day they even allowed us to have tent camp on Kiev's main square. champagne," he said with a smile. Alcohol is "You can have your own little paradise — prohibited in the camp to maintain discipline. even in a tent," said Vasyl, a tall 23-year-old The wedding bore no legal weight, but Vasyl with his hair dyed blond. insisted that Kiev Mayor Olexander Four days after meeting, Vasyl and Sofiya, a Omelchenko promised to issue the couple a cheerful 15-year-old brunette, staged unofficial special wedding certificate. Meanwhile, local vows in the heart of the tent city, to a wedding reporters presented them with the rings. march and the cheers of dozens of fellow camp residents. 1_OVF AND RFVOIIJTION "She wore an orange veil, made from an See page 7 9 The next best thing to fruits and vegetables. 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