Mexico arrests 3 more in bar kidnap-killings

(AP) Mexico arrests 3 more in bar kidnap-killings
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY
Mexican authorities said Thursday they have arrested three more suspects in the killings of 12 young people who were reported kidnapped three months ago from a bar near the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

Assistant federal prosecutor Renato Sales said the three men were captured by federal authorities and have been turned over to Mexico City prosecutors pending formal charges.

Sales said the three are suspected in 13 killings, the same number of bodies found in August in a clandestine grave on Mexico City’s outskirts.

Twelve of the bodies found in the grave were identified as those of the youths reported kidnapped.

Authorities have said the 13th body belongs to a young man, but have never publicly said what his relationship was to the other 12 youths. A federal prosecutor who was not authorized to speak to the media said the man may have been someone who aided the kidnappers.

The prosecutor said the three suspects were arrested Thursday at a bar not far from where the kidnapping occurred, in a popular tourist area known as the Zona Rosa.

The latest arrests bring to 10 the number of suspects in custody, including two owners of the bar where the young people were kidnapped May 26.

Prosecutors have said they believe the killings were in revenge for the slaying of a drug dealer.