(Tuxtla Gutiérrez) An armed commando on Tuesday kidnapped 14 administrative employees of the police in the state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico, while they were traveling on a road, local authorities announced.
The security forces have launched “a search and location operation for 14 men integrating this police institution, who were deprived of their liberty by armed persons”, said the Chiapas Interior Ministry in a press release.
The kidnapping took place on the 35 km road that connects the town of Ocozocoautla to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of the state of Chiapas.
The state attorney’s office said it is investigating the origin and authenticity of “various video and photographic materials” circulating on social media and local media, which show the apparent timing of the abduction. .
These images show several individuals armed with long weapons and bulletproof vests next to at least three pickup trucks blocking a highway.
According to the daily Reformedthe armed individuals stopped the vehicle carrying the police employees, confiscated their mobile phones and ordered them to get to the ground.
The commando took the men from the group, and left behind an unknown number of women, also police employees, according to the newspaper.
Clashes between police and armed criminals have increased recently in the Ocozocoautla region, a transit zone for illegal immigration and drug trafficking.