Two Americans Claim Abuse in Mexico

Two Americans say the Mexican army planted marijuana in their truck and arrested them. After arriving at a military base, the pair says, they were blindfolded, restrained, tortured with electric shocks and hits from rifle butts, and threatened with death. Shohn Huckabee, 23, and Carlos Quijas, 36, were about to cross the border at Cuidad Juárez in December when the incident happened; that city is one of the worst hot spots in Mexico’s four-year drug war. As the military tries to crack down on the drug cartels, who have killed 25,000 people, it’s drawing some complaints about their tactics. Chihuahua, the state where Cuidad Juárez is located, is investigating 465 cases of abuse and torture by the military. About 70 cases involve planted evidence. Other Americans have alleged abuse. "When I did not answer their questions, they shocked me with a wire that was in my hands,” Huckabee says. “My whole body froze up. The pain went from bearable to a point where I couldn't even talk." Huckabee and Quijas are still in prison in Cuidad Juárez.