Mexico ( Mexican Authorities Rescue 35 from Kidnappers )

MEXICO CITY – Five people were arrested in an operation to free 35 captives in the southern state of Guerrero, a Mexican federal official said.

The rescue was carried out May 13 near the village of Huasquial, anti-kidnapping task force coordinator Renato Sales said.

Marines, Guerrero state police and agents from the federal Attorney General’s Office found 24 men and 11 women with their hands bound, he said.

The four men and a woman guarding the captives were taken into custody.

Sales said the suspects confessed to being part of a criminal outfit active in the Tierra Caliente region, which straddles the states of Guerrero, Michoacan and Mexico.

The captives, including a pregnant woman and a minor, were taken to a secure location where they received food, medical attention and psychological counseling, he said, adding that a number of them were suffering from malnutrition, anemia and untreated injuries.

Several had been in captivity for as long as six months, according to sources in the AG’s office, who said the gang continued to hold some captives even after their families paid ransoms.

Arrest warrants have been issued for four other suspects, the sources said.