Mexican authorities detain 5 drug gang suspects

The Associated Press
6:41 p.m. October 27, 2009

PACHUCA, Mexico — Investigators have detained five suspected associates of the Gulf drug cartel for alleged involvement in violent clashes that killed four people in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo last week, authorities said Tuesday

The Hidalgo state prosecutor's office said the suspects are affiliated with the Zetas, the drug ring's infamous hit men. It said the five had firearms and a grenade when police apprehended them last Thursday.

A federal judge ruled they can be held for 40 days while authorities continue the investigation.

Drug gang violence has surged in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon took office and ordered a nationwide crackdown on drug traffickers.

Police on Tuesday found dismembered remains of a man in plastic bags by the side of a road in Uruapan, a city in the western state of Michoacan, one of the areas most affected by drug gang violence. He was believed to around 30 years old.

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