Since last Tuesday, Mexican authorities have launched a search for at least 16 officials of the Chiapas Secretariat for Civil Security and Protection after the kidnapping they were victims of.

The Attorney General’s Office issued a statement describing that video and photographic material was being analyzed to determine whether they matched the facts.

Through images it was possible to observe at least six people with long guns and bulletproof vests next to three trucks blocking the passage on a highway.

On one side is a blue bus, which the media said was the vehicle transporting the workers and at which the attackers pointed their long guns.

The Reforma newspaper published that the commando stopped the unit and boarded it, then took the passengers’ mobile phones and ordered them to lie down on the ground.

The armed men, wearing military clothes and covering their faces, took the men away, leaving behind an undetermined number of women, including police officers, according to the paper’s version.

According to witnesses, the women burst into tears after the assault.

The local security secretariat indicated that the events took place on a 35-kilometer stretch of highway connecting the municipalities of Ocozocoautla to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas, more than 700 kilometers southeast of the country’s capital.

A security source AFP consulted indicated they were administrative staff. The operation to locate the workers is being carried out with vehicles and helicopters, the statement said.

In a video that circulated Wednesday morning, some hostages can be seen giving a message for their release. One of the conditions imposed was the dismissal of three civil servants.

Gabriela Zepeda, head of the secretariat, announced the arrest of two people allegedly linked to the plagiarism.