Pubdate: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191 Fax: (619) 293-1440 Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Anna Cearley, Staff Writer BODIES OF SIX SLAYING VICTIMS FOUND IN TIJUANA TIJUANA -- The bodies of six slaying victims were discovered here yesterday in what are believed to be separate cases of kidnapping and drug trafficking. Two of the victims were kidnapped about a week ago from the Mexican border city of Tecate. Their strangled bodies were found about 8 a.m. in a drainage ditch near the Samsung factory in Florido Industrial Park. A few hours later, police found four more bodies -- three men and a woman - -- inside a house that officials believe was being used to store or package drugs. The victims, ranging in age from 18 to 30, had all been shot. "It may be a coincidence that this has happened all in one day. It doesn't mean they are linked," said Raul Gutierrez, a spokesman with the state attorney general's office in Tijuana. It is unclear when the two kidnapped men were killed and dumped in Tijuana. Daniel Avendano Lopez, 37, was a mechanic and race promoter, state police said. His companion, Victor Hugo Cancino, was 28. This was the second time Avendano had been kidnapped this year. His family didn't notify police the first time, and he was returned safely in exchange for a ransom, Gutierrez said. This time, the family did notify police but decided not to involve officials in the ransom negotiations. It isn't known how much the family paid before Avendano and Hugo were killed. The identities of the other four victims, believed to have been killed Tuesday night, weren't available last night. Their deaths are being investigated by the federal attorney general's office, which handles cases clearly related to drug trafficking. The four were found in an empty house, with small quantities of marijuana and a 9 mm gun. "It was a place where they either stored drugs or wrapped them, and it may be that there were more drugs in the house, but whoever did this may have taken the drugs with them," said Gutierrez. Yesterday's toll was high even by Tijuana's standards. The city of about 1.3 million averages about one killing a day, but rarely has more than four in one day. In comparison, San Diego, with a similar population, had 57 slayings during all of last year. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D