Mexico City, Nov 10 (EFE) Four men with alleged ties to a powerful crime organisation are in custody in connection with the kidnapping of a young woman who was held for three years as sex slave, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office said.
The suspects were apprehended by soldiers during an operation targeting two ranches in the western state of Michoacan.

Seized along with the men were 10 rifles, six handguns, more than 1,300 rounds of ammunition, 10 kilos of marijuana and a vehicle, the defence department said.

The troops also rescued a 23-year-old woman from the northern state of Nuevo Leon who was kidnapped three years ago and exploited by the gunmen as a sex slave.

She gave birth twice during her captivity, according to press accounts.

The suspects were described as employees of La Familia Michoacana, a criminal enterprise active in drug smuggling, kidnapping, extortion and migrant trafficking.

The defence department accused the four men of engaging in money laundering and of taking part in the July murders of 12 federal agents in Michoacan, apparently slain in retaliation for the arrests of several top figures in La Familia Michoacana.

La Familia, which operates in Michoacan, the southern state of Guerrero and the central state of Mexico, is considered the country’s largest maker and trafficker of synthetic drugs such as crystal meth, much of which finds its way to the United States.