IGUALA, Mexico — Missing students were likely among the charred corpses found in mass graves in southwest Mexico and local security officials are suspected of conspiring with gang members to kill them, authorities said. Guerrero state Attorney General Inaky Blanco said 28 bodies had been recovered so far and that "it is probable" some of the students who went missing after clashing with police in Iguala on Sept. 26 are among the remains.

Blanco said two gang hitmen have admitted killing 17 of the 43 missing students with the help of security officials, adding that of the 29 suspects identified so far, 26 have been arrested — including Felipe Flores, Iguala’s head of security. Blanco said local police had been infiltrated by a criminal gang known as the Guerreros Unidos and that Flores had conspired with a gang leader to order the killings. He said Flores's deputy also ordered the police to detain the students and has gone missing. Guerrero state, home to the resort of Acapulco, has been one of Mexico’s most lawless states for years.

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— Reuters