Mexico finds bones of 2 of 5 missing young people

Mexican authorities have found the bones of two of five young people who vanished after they were detained by police officers last month, the government said.

Officials notified families of the 16-year-old girl and four men -- all in their 20s -- that police dogs found bone remains and blood stains at a ranch in Tlalixcoyan, in the eastern state of Veracruz.

DNA tests concluded that the remains were those of two from the group, who disappeared in the Veracruz town of Tierra Blanca on January 11, the interior ministry said in a statement, without naming the victims.

Police also found indications that the ranch was used to hold drugs, store stolen fuel and materials for modifying cars, the ministry said.

Seven state police officers have been arrested and charged with "forced disappearance" -- a term used for abductions committed by officials.

A local leader of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel was also detained in connection with the case.

The five young people were returning from a birthday celebration in the port of Veracruz when they were pulled over by state police in Tierra Blanca.

Security cameras recorded the moment they were detained by police in broad daylight just 100 meters (yards) from a state police facility.

The case has been compared to the disappearance of 43 students in southern Guerrero state in September 2014, when municipal police attacked the young men and delivered them to a drug cartel, which allegedly killed them.

More than 26,600 people have been reported missing in Mexico amid brutal turf wars between drug gangs.

SourcE :AFP