Monterrey: About a dozen gunmen kidnapped a prosecutor in charge of drug cases from a club packed with 2,000 people in Monterrey, capital of the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, a police spokesman has said.
Jorge Jogar Hobbs Flores, who is in charge of a joint anti-drug unit operating in Monterrey`s northern suburbs, was abducted early Sunday by the hooded gunmen, who arrived at the upscale downtown La Rumba club aboard three SUVs.
The gunmen went into the club and fired their weapons, causing the people inside to dive for cover and grabbing the official amid the confusion, eyewitnesses said.
Soldiers arrived moments after the gunmen left, but they were unable to catch the kidnappers.
The Nuevo Leon Public Safety Secretariat had warned of threats by organised crime groups to murder an official for every arrest or killing carried out by the security forces.
Hobbs Flores`s kidnapping occurred 24 hours after soldiers clashed with some criminals holding a hostage in a village some 30 km from Monterrey.
Five of the kidnappers, including the gang`s leader and a civilian bystander were killed in the incident.
The gang was involved in drug sales, kidnappings and extortion rackets in rural areas in Nuevo Leon, the Defence Secretariat said.
Army troops freed the hostage, a local merchant, and seized arms, drugs and lists of police officers on the gang`s payroll at the house where the shootout took place.
Bureau Report
