The 11 defendants allegedly acted on behalf of the Setas gang in Mexico< /p>
Eleven alleged drug cartel enforcers have been sentenced to 50 years in prison each for killing 122 bus passengers in northwestern Mexico near the U.S. border more than a decade ago, the attorney general's office announced Wednesday.
The eleven defendants, who allegedly acted on behalf of the Setas gang, were convicted of “distinguished murder” in series and with aggravating circumstances in 2010, according to a statement released by the prosecution.
The defendants appear to have been cartel enforcers.
The identities of the victims were not specified
At the time, there were reports of abductions of bus passengers who were later found in secret mass graves in the US state of Tamaulipas.
< p>The nationality of the victims was not specified. The area is part of the route that many migrants take as they try to reach the US territory.
The lawsuits filed at the time, however, said the victims were mostly Mexican citizens who had boarded the line's buses. , not immigrants, who generally try to move clandestinely.
The buses were intercepted in the municipality of San Fernando, less than 200 kilometers from the Mexico-US border.
In August 2010, in same municipality, 72 immigrants were executed by members of the Seta gang.
According to the Mexican authorities, the drug cartel was forced to forcibly recruit travelers and immigrants and if they resisted, they were executed.
