By The Associated Press

Published: Thursday, March 7, 2013, 9:54 p.m.
Updated: Thursday, March 7, 2013

GOMEZ PALACIO, Mexico — Twenty-one members of a drug gang linked to the Sinaloa cartel have been detained in connection with as many as 30 killings and the abduction of five non-editorial employees of a newspaper who were later released, Mexican authorities said on Thursday.

Prosecutors in the northern state of Durango said the kidnap-killing of a local politician in February was among the gang's alleged crimes. The victim, Mario Alberto Landeros, had been planning to run for mayor of a city in the state.

A statement from the state prosecutor's office said the suspects included at least six females; all were arrested in the northern city of Gomez Palacio and surrounding areas. Police said they recovered 20 rifles and bags of drugs in making the 21 arrests.

State Attorney General Sonia de la Garza said the gang acted as an enforcement wing for the Sinaloa cartel.

1. Aid group attacked by Taliban, leading to street battle in Kabul
2. Slain British soldier’s family thought he was safe in U.K.
3. Soldier killed on London street; terrorist suspect filmed with cleaver, knife
4. North Korean letter to China signals rapprochement
5. Kerry: Tehran impedes election
6. Israel favors interim deal with Palestinians
7. Man who allegedly hacked soldier to death in London identified as Muslim convert
8. 2 arrested after UK fighter jet scrambles to divert civilian plane
9. ‘Joke’ prompts British jets to divert airliner carrying 300 from Pakistan
10. Syria’s Assad says he’ll ‘face storm’
11. Afghan women’s rights suffer setback

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.