Mexico charges police officer with killing 24

Alleged cartel member also accused in massacre outside Mexico City

Americas video

AFP - Getty Images

Voters in Honduras pick new president
Nov. 30: Voters in Honduras elect conservative candidate Porfirio Lobo president. This comes after months of political turmoil in that country. Msnbc's Contessa Brewer reports.

5.9 quake in El Salvador

Nose down landing in Calgary

Video

An intimate look inside Rio's favelas
Oct. 4: With a beauty few cities in the world can match, Rio de Janeiro has always been a natural draw for tourists. But as NBC's Karl Bostic reports, more visitors are looking for the Rio hidden inside these slums.

Nightly News

NBC World Blog

NBC News correspondents and producers around the globe share their insight on news events.

Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).

Find more alerts at alerts.msnbc.com

Most popular

• Most viewed

• Top rated

• Most e-mailed

Obama details Afghan war plan, troop increases

Another woman to be named in Woods case

Cop-killer suspect shot dead by officer

Cops: Woman makes threat to delay flight

Dying man robbed in ER waiting room

Most viewed on msnbc.com

updated 11:36 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2008

MEXICO CITY - A municipal police commander and an alleged drug cartel member have been charged with homicide in the September massacre of 24 men outside Mexico City.

The Attorney General's Office said it also lodged organized crime and drug charges against policeman Antonio Ramirez Cervantes and alleged trafficker Raul Villa Ortega.

The charges, announced Thursday, follow the execution-style killing of 24 men whose bodies were found bound with duct tape and shot in the head on Sept. 12 in a rural area west of Mexico City.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Cervantes served as police commander of a nearby town and allegedly helped Villa Ortega kidnap and kill the victims, many of whom were believed to be rival drug dealers.