MEDELLIN , Mexico, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Thirteen police officers in Medellin, Mexico, have been detained in an investigation of the Jan. 2 kidnapping of a newspaper journalist.
Gunmen abducted Moises Sanchez, a social activist known for his coverage of drug-related violence for a Medellin newspaper, from his home. Over 30 people, the town's entire police force, was questioned about the disappearance. Sanchez was threatened by the mayor, his brother Juan Carlos Sanchez claims, although Mayor Omar Cruz denies the accusation.
The town is in Veracruz state in eastern Mexico, where three journalists have been killed since 2011. Mexico's National Commission on human rights said 97 journalists have been killed in the country since 2010, and prosecutors announced forensic tests are being conducted on a body found in a village near Medellin to learn if it is that of Sanchez.
Sanchez's disappearance comes after municipal officers in Guerrero state admitted handing over 43 kidnapped students to a drug gang which, it is believed, killed them. The case is an example of what is presumed to be widespread complicity in Mexico between police and drug gangs.
