Mexican arrests 2 in teen’s kidnapping, murder

MEXICO CITY — Mexican police have arrested two men suspected of kidnapping a prominent businessman’s teenage son, whose murder sparked nationwide protests against crime.

Jose Montiel, 34, and Noe Robles, 31, are believed to be members of a Mexico City gang responsible for at least 23 abductions, Federal Police intelligence coordinator Luis Cardenas said Friday.

Police released a video in which Robles acknowledged killing 14-year-old Fernando Marti. It was not immediately clear if the suspects had lawyers.

Marti, the 14-year-old son of sporting goods magnate Alejandro Marti, was kidnapped at a fake police checkpoint in June 2008. His body was found in the trunk of a car two months later along with his driver, even though the family reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom.

Public outrage over the kidnap-murder erupted in demonstrations across Mexico. President Felipe Calderon has since proposed life sentences for police officers involved in kidnappings.

Mexico City police previously arrested a former city police officer and an active federal agent in the Marti case. The presumed leader of the kidnapping ring remains at large.

“This criminal organization is considered to be one of the most violent, given that their methods consisted of killing drivers and bodyguards and occasionally the (kidnapping) victims, who were given drugged food and then suffocated and abandoned in stolen vehicles,” Cardenas said Friday.

The Mexican government says there are about 97 kidnappings a month, but most abductions go unreported due to widespread mistrust of police.

The nonprofit Citizens’ Institute for Crime Studies estimates the real rate is closer to 500 a month.