Prohibition corrupts

MEXICO CITY – Eleven federal agents were charged with kidnapping four alleged drug hit men and possibly helping rival traffickers kill them, as depicted on a brutal DVD made public, the Mexican Attorney General’s office said Thursday.

The federal agents – who also face charges of drug trafficking, organized crime and weapons possession – were paid by a rival cartel, said Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, Mexico’s top anti-drug prosecutor.

The victims – four men seen beaten and bound on the video, one of whom was shot in the head at the end of the tape – identify themselves as members of a band of Mexican soldiers-turned-hit men believed to work for the Gulf cartel, known as the Zetas.