Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Authorities say 158 local police officers have been detained in northern Mexico for alleged ties to organized crime.

Durango state prosecutors say the officers worked in the Durango cities of Gomez Palacio and Lerdo. They say soldiers and state police officers will patrol the cities.

They said in a Friday statement that investigators found evidence the police officers were protecting and sharing information with drug traffickers for at least the past three years.

Prosecutors say detained suspects told investigators some of the officers worked for the Sinaloa drug cartel.

The big, mountainous state of Durango is known for drug cultivation and trafficking. Homicides there have more than double over the past two years amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Zetas cartels.

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