Authorities say suspected drug cartel gunmen abducted seven Mexican immigration agents in Cancun at gunpoint and beat and threatened them before there were freed. The brazen mass kidnapping occurred near Cancun's bustling airport, and appeared to illustrate the degree to which Mexico's cartels and criminal gangs have become involved in migrant smuggling. The agents were freed after federal forces engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle. The agents said the gunmen told them they would be killed unless they allowed migrants to be smuggled through the airport. It was the first such mass abduction of immigration agents in Mexico.
