WORLD : 18 Killed in Emerald Mine War
<i> From Times wire services </i>
BOGOTA, Colombia —
Armed attackers raided a farm north of Bogota today, massacring a top gem dealer and 17 other people, in what police said was a battle for control of Colombia’s lucrative emerald mines.
The head of national police, Gen. Miguel Gomez Padilla, said emerald dealer Gilberto Molina, who was also suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, was among the 18 killed by about 50 armed men on the farm at Sasaima, 50 miles north of the capital. The other dead were cattle breeder Pedro Cardenas and 16 bodyguards, police said.
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