A former mayor from a rural Mexican town has been arrested in connection with the kidnap and murder of 300 people who were cooked in ovens at the hands a drug cartel.

Mexican authorities arrested Sergio Lozano on Thursday for allegedly participating in one of the worst massacres perpetrated by the brutal Zetas cartel in the border state of Coahuila.

The state attorney general's office would not clarify his alleged role in the deaths of up to 300 people in the town and its surroundings, but confirmed he was arrested on kidnapping charges.

Mexican authorities arrested Sergio Lozano on Thursday for allegedly participating in one of the worst massacres perpetrated by the brutal Zetas cartel in the border state of Coahuila

Lozano served as mayor of the town of Allende - 33 miles from the Texas border - in 2011 when Los Zetas kidnapped dozens of people who were murdered and burnt.

A spokesperson from the state of Coahuila's center-right National Action Party (PAN), the political party of Lozano, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Zetas targeted people in the town to get back at members of the gang who were suspected of stealing drug profits, according to a government report.

It said the killings were likely ordered by former Zetas boss Miguel Angel 'Z-40' Trevino, and his brother Omar, both of whom were subsequently captured and imprisoned.

The brutal Zetas cartel in the border state of Coahuila targeted people in the town to get back at members of the gang who were suspected of stealing drug profits (file photo)

The town of Allende in Coahuila is just 33 miles from the U.S. border

Lozano served as mayor of the town of Allende in 2011 when Los Zetas kidnapped dozens of people who were murdered and burnt

The report, published in October, alleges that between 160 and 200 heavily armed gang members - supported by municipal police - abducted Allende residents.

It noted that it would have been 'inconceivable to accept' Lozano had no knowledge of events.

Hector Moreno, a Zeta who fled to bordering Texas to escape the gang, testified that up to 300 people were killed in the massacre.

He also said the Zetas moved five tons of cocaine a year across the border between 2007 and 2011 and paid local authorities in Coahuila to protect them.