Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano has voiced "deep concern" to his Mexican counterpart Luis Videgaray Caso about three Italians who vanished in Mexico a month ago, the ministry said on Wednesday.
"I had a long phone conversation with my Mexican counterpart Luis Videgaray Caso and expressed deep concern about the Italians missing in Mexico, personally conveying to him the urgent need to solve the case," Alfano stated.
Alfano said he had underlined to Videgaray Italy's "strong hope" that its three citizens would soon be found and their abductors brought to justice.
"Videgaray assured me that Mexican authorities are making every effort to solve the case urgently," Alfano said.
Alfano said he stressed to Videgaray "the keen expectation that close ties be maintained between the Mexican authorities conducting the investigation and our embassy."
The three Neapolitan street vendors, Raffaele Russo, 60, his son Antonio, 25, and nephew Vincenzo Commino, 29, vanished in the high-crime city of Tecaltitlan, in the western state of Jalisco on 31 January.
The Italians were sold by police to a gang in Jalisco for 43 euros, according to their family.
Videgaray confirmed that four Mexican policemen had been held in the case and that an arrest warrant had been issued for the local police chief who allegedly ordered the four officers to sell the Italians to the criminal gang, Alfano said.
"Mexican prosecutors are seeking to identify other individuals implicated in the crime and are ready to collaborate fully with prosecutors in Rome," Alfano stated.
Videgaray gave assurances that the Mexican government and the country's judicial authorities would do everything possible to solve the case, Alfano said
Alfano's diplomatic push came after the relatives of Commino and Russo and his son appealed to the Italian government to intervene.
