Puerto Rico police probe killings of 5 men tortured and left naked

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican authorities on Wednesday investigated the killings of five men whose naked and tortured bodies were left in public areas in a rare scene for the U.S. territory battling drug trafficking.

Three of the bodies were found piled up near a church in the northern city of Carolina, just east of the capital. San Juan, on Tuesday. The victims have not been identified.

Police found two other bodies on Tuesday in Santurce, a San Juan neighborhood. One of those victims was identified on Wednesday.

Police have said all five bodies present similar markings.

“It’s probably related to drug trafficking, but we’re not going to dismiss other angles,” Police Superintendent Joseph González told El Nuevo Día newspaper.

Puerto Rico has long been considered a transit route for drugs headed to the U.S. mainland and elsewhere.

The island of 3.2 million people reported 344 killings this year as of Wednesday, compared with 379 in the same period last year.