Three Italians missing in Mexico 'alive' (4)

(ANSA) - Naples, March 30 - Three Neapolitan men who went missing in Mexico on January 31 are alive according to investigators, a lawyer said at an Italian foreign ministry meeting with their relatives in Rome Friday. "For the Mexican authorities our co-nationals are alive and the investigative activity is moving in this direction," said the lawyer, Claudio Falletti.
    Caretaker Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano recently called for "urgent" action to find the trio. It has been reported by their family that the three Neapolitan street vendors were sold by police to a gang in the State of Jalisco for 43 euros.
    The relatives of Raffaele Russo, his son Antonio, and nephew Vincenzo Commino have repeatedly appealed to the government to intervene.
    The Italian foreign ministry, which has confirmed that four Mexican police have been arrested, said Friday it had reiterated to "our Mexican counterparts the importance which the government attributes to the affair and the urgency of providing news and certain elements to the families as soon as possible".
    The three street vendors went missing in the high-crime city of Tecaltitlan, in the State of Jalisco.
    photo: torchlit parade in Naples for the three