Authorities in a small South Texas town bordering Mexico say a drug load theft is the reason behind their first-ever murder investigation.
The Monitor of McAllen reported Saturday that three suspects have been arraigned on multiple charges, including attempted capital murder, and were being held on bonds of $600,000 or more. All of the suspects are Mexican nationals.
It's the first murder case for investigators in Palmhurst, which is just outside McAllen and opened its own police department in 2005.
Palmhurst Police Chief Michael Vela says 200 pounds of bundled marijuana were found at one of the crime scenes.
He told the newspaper it's possible that the shooting may have been a matter of one drug cartel attempting to steal a drug load from another.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.