Ex-Drug Prosecutor Tortured, Slain

A former federal prosecutor for drug crimes in Baja California was tortured and killed in the fourth slaying of a top state prosecutor this year, newspapers reported Sunday.

Sources quoted by Mexico City newspapers suggested that the slaying of Sergio Moreno Perez, 47, and his son Osmani, 21, could be linked to drug gangs.

Many drug gangs are believed to maintain cozy relations with law enforcement officials in the state, and some analysts suggested to newspapers that Moreno could have been killed by a gang he once protected.

Moreno also had other enemies: He was an ally of Mexican reformists and helped investigate the slaying of two aides to a leftist presidential candidate who nearly toppled the ruling party in 1988.