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Tamaulipas is considered one of Mexico’s most dangerous states due to the presence of cartel members involved in drug and migrant trafficking, as well as other crimes, including extortion.The announcement of the arrests came hours after officials said five bodies had been found in the search for the men, who were members of a local band called Fugitivo.

The musicians were hired to put on a concert on Sunday but arrived to find that the location of their proposed performance was a vacant lot, according to family members who had held a protest urging the authorities to act.Relatives had reported receiving ransom demands for the musicians, who were aged between 20 and 40 years old.Mexican musicians have been targeted previously by cartel members amid rivalry, as some receive payment to compose and perform songs that glorify the exploits of gang leaders.

Investigators used video surveillance footage and mobile phone tracking to establish the musicians’ last movements, Barrios said.Nine firearms and two vehicles were seized, he said.

More than 480,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence and organised crime, and about 120,000 people have gone missing, in Mexico.

At least 3,018 people displaced and 265 houses destroyed in the floods in central Nigeria as more rains are feared.demanded justice for decades

Several Maya Achi women in the courtroom applauded at the end of the trial, where some dressed in traditional attire and others listened to the verdict through an interpreter.One of the victims, a 62-year-old woman, told the AFP news agency she was “very happy” with the verdict.

Pedro Sanchez, one of the three men convicted, told the court before the sentencing, “I am innocent of what they are accusing me of.”But Judge Marling Mayela Gonzalez Arrivillaga, another member of the all-women, three-panel court, said there was no doubt about the women’s testimony against the suspects.