Three police investigators were found dead after being abducted in a region of Mexico plagued by drug violence, authorities said.

Their bodies were found in a van in the municipality of Maltrata in the eastern region of Veracruz, public prosecutors said in a statement released on Thursday.

They had been kidnapped and killed hours earlier 40 kilometers (25 miles) away in the neighboring region of Puebla, it said.

The area has been one of those worst hit by a wave of violence involving drug gangs.

Overall 177,000 people have been killed in violent crime across Mexico since 2006, according to the government.

Source: AFP