Prominent rancher murdered in northern Mexico

A rancher who had ties to dairy firm Lala was murdered over the weekend in the northern Mexican city of Torreon and no arrests have yet been made in the case, a spokesman for the Coahuila state Attorney General's Office told Efe on Monday. Carlos Ignacio Valdes Berlanga was killed on Easter Sunday by a group of armed men who went to his house. The 62-year-old businessman "was surprised at home by two armed subjects who threatened his household staff so they could gain access via the service entrance," the AG's office spokesman said. Valdes Berlanga realized what was happening, tried to flee and was shot by one of the gunmen. The rancher was shot 15 times and his body was dumped between Torreon's Madrid and Quebec streets, near his house. La Laguna, a region that includes parts of Coahuila and neighboring Durango state, is the object of a bitter turf war between the Los Zetas and Sinaloa drug cartels...more