MEXICO CITY - Authorities in Mexico say they have arrested four municipal police officers in connection with the disappearance of three Italians who were last heard from more than three weeks ago.

Jalisco state Attorney General Raul Sanchez says the suspects are three men and a woman, all active-duty police officers in the town of Tecalitlan.

Sanchez said Saturday at a news conference that the agents confessed to handing the missing men over to members of an organized crime group in Tecalitlan. They are suspected of forced disappearance, a crime punishable by 40 to 60 years in prison.

The search continues for the Italians, who have been identified on search posters as 60-year-old Raffaele Russo, his 25-year-old son Antonio Russo and 29-year-old nephew Vincenzo Cimmino, all from the Naples area.