This Article is From Oct 04, 2014

Eight People Killed in Western Colombia

Eight bodies bearing gunshot wounds were found in an exclusive rural area of the western Colombian city of Cali, officials said.

Cali Metropolitan Police General Hoover Penilla told AFP lab tests were being performed on the bodies to determine the cause of death.

The bodies were found "bound and shot," according to prosecutors, who indicated that at least 15 guns were also found at the location.

The farm where the murders took place was owned by a drug trafficker recently extradited to the United States and preliminary reports suggest they were the result of a settling of scores between cartels operating in the area.


Authorities were alerted to the incident by locals who heard the shots around 7:00 pm (0000 GMT Sunday).

\Penilla said the caretaker of the property told authorities that a group of people had arrived before the killing, which transpired after a discussion between the visitors.

"We are in the process of identifying the bodies," Penilla added.
Local media said all the dead were men.

The rural area of La Maria, where the incident took place, is very close to a prestigious Cali club home to multiple mansions.

Cali, the third largest city in Colombia, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department and is located about 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest from Bogota.

Colombia, the largest producer of cocaine in the world alongside Peru according to the United Nations, has been wracked for more than half a century by a bloody conflict that has left hundreds of thousands of victims.

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