Probing A Massacre In Mexico

One month after 19 men, women and children were massacred in Ensenada, Mexico, there is still no official explanation of who committed the murders or why, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Whitaker.

This week, General Jose Luis Chavez, who is leading then investigation, admitted he has got nothing to report.

Sources tell CBS News that Fermin Castro, the patriarch of the murdered clan, was an operative of Tijuana's ruthless Arellano-Felix Brothers drug cartel and was rubbed out -- along with his family -- for letting a rival trafficker use his airstrip.

CBS News also has learned from a very high level source close to the investigation that the intelligence gathered so far strongly indicates that some of the gunmen who committed the massacre were from the United States -- hard-core gang members who slipped across the border from southern California.

If it turns out to be true, the story will fit a deadly pattern.

No one knows that better than crusading Tijuana newspaper editor Jesus Blancornelas, who has doggedly investigated the murderous Arellano-Felix cartel and corrupt officials.

Last Thanksgiving, assassins sprayed his vehicle with automatic gunfire, wounding Blancornelas, and killing his driver.

David Barron Corona, a gang member from San Diego and a leader of the Arellano-Felix organization, was killed in the crossfire.

U.S. officials say Barron and his American gang members are linked to the shocking murder of the Cardinal of Guadalajara in 1993.

"They start hiring these gang members from southern California gangs to do the dirty job, to do the dirty work of killing," says Blancornelas, who believes the cartel is responsible for dozens of murders in Tijuana.

With a contract still on his life, Blancornelas always travels with heavily armed bodyguards.

"If this is what is going on, Tijuana and California will be the new Colombia," he says.

Blancornelas argues that the only way to avoid the kind of narco-violence that wracked that South American country is for Mexico and the U.S. to work together.

However, as soon as American officials heard about the Ensenada massacre, they offered to send forensic specialists - and Mexico turned them down.

"There's no need for American help in this investigation," said General Chavez. Americans say they are being stymied by Mexican pride. Mexicans call that Yankee arrogance.

In any event, the lack of cooperation is a benefit to the bad guys on both sides of the border.

Reported by Bill Whitaker
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