MEXICO CITY (AP) —
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Mexican authorities rescued 18 hostages of criminal groups Saturday amid a wave of kidnappings in the state of Sinaloa, where more than 600 special forces were sent to beef up security.
Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Roche said on his social media channels that nine adults and nine children were rescued in the morning but didn’t provide details on where and how the initiative took place.
Roche said authorities launched an intensive operation with police and military forces to find seven people who are still kidnapped.
Kidnappings en masse took place Friday in different areas of the La Noria region, outside Sinaloa’s capital city of Culiacan. Members of criminal groups made hostages of at least three families, said local public security chief Gerardo Mérida.
Federal authorities sent special forces to Sinaloa to search for the missing people. Another 300 military troops and a National Guard battalion are also operating in the area.
Local authorities have not said who the perpetrators were of the mass kidnappings, which took place one day after three people were killed in the region of Badiraguato, also in Sinaloa state.