Prosecutors: 4 Mexican soldiers arrested in family abduction

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in central Mexico said they have arrested four soldiers accused of kidnapping a family and holding them for ransom.

Prosecutors in the central state of Tlaxcala said that earlier this week that the four men abducted a mother, uncle, girl and boy. The suspects drove them around, demanding a ransom equivalent to about $100,000, according to the authorities.

After being paid part of the ransom demand, the abductors released the adults and the girl, prosecutors said.

They added that the men carried documents identifying them as active-duty soldiers and that police arrested the suspects after they had received more money and dropped off the boy.

Mexico’s Defense Department has not confirmed whether they were indeed active-duty soldiers.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has entrusted the army with a leading role in civilian law enforcement and numerous infrastructure projects, arguing that soldiers are more trustworthy than other forces.