VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES FOUND THE BODIES OF THREE CANADIAN BOYS WHO HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED MORE THAN A MONTH AGO IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY, THE JUSTICE MINISTER SAID. THE BODIES OF THE THREE FADDOUL BROTHERS-AGED BETWEEN 17 AND 12-WERE FOUND TUESDAY AFTERNOON IN YARE, ABOUT 50 KILOMETERS WEST OF CARACAS, JUSTICE MINISTER JESSE CHACON SAID. THE BODY O THE BOYS' VENEZUELAN DRIVER ALSO WAS FOUND THERE, HE ADDED. 'WE LAMENT-DESPITE THE EFFORTS THAT WERE MADE 24 HOURS A DAY SINCE THIS STARTED-WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO PREVENT THIS ABOMINABLE HOMICIDE,' CHACON SAID. 'WE'RE CERTAIN THAT THE EVIDENCE AND THE ADVANCEMENTS ALREADY MADE IN THE INVESTIGATION WILL ALLOW US TO CONCLUDE THIS INVESTIGATION.' THE VICTIMS WERE FOUND WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS IN THE HEAD AND NECK, AND APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN KILLED AT LEAST TWO DAYS BEFORE THEIR BODIES WERE FOUND, JUDICIAL POLICE CHIEF MARCO CHAVEZ SAID ON STATE TELEVISION. POLICE SAID THAT THE BROTHERS WERE KIDNAPPED FEBRUARY 23 WHEN UNIDENTIFIED MEN DRESSED AS POLICE STOPPED THEIR CAR AT A ROADSIDE CHECKPOINT IN CARACAS AS THE BOYS WERE BEING DRIVEN TO SCHOOL. AUTHORITIES HAVE NOT RULED OUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE KIDNAPPERS WERE ACTUAL POLICE OFFICERS. OFFICIALS HAVE NOT REVEALED EXACTLY HOW MUCH RANSOM THE KIDNAPPERS DEMANDED, BUT THEY HAVE SAID IT WAS MORE THAN $4.5 MILLION. A LAWYER FOR THE FADDOUL FAMILY SAID RECENTLY THAT THE FAMILY WAS NOT ABLE TO PAY THE SUM. THE BOYS' PARENTS WERE BOTH BORN IN LEBANON, AND THEIR FATHER IS A NATURALIZED CANADIAN CITIZEN WHO HAS BEEN A BUSINESSMAN IN VENEZUELA FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. VIOLENT ROBBERIES, KIDNAPPINGS, AND MURDERS ARE FREQUENT IN VENEZUELA.
