Three people have been arrested and police are still searching for two other suspects believed to be connected to the murder of two Australian surfers who went missing last month in Mexico.
Members of a local gang, who are known to police as 'low-level drug dealers', have confessed to killing two tourists after they fought back during an attempted robbery, reports the BBC.
The van of missing tourists Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman was found firebombed with two charred bodies inside that were riddled with gunshot wounds.
The pair both lived in Golden Bay, Western Australia, though Mr Coleman moved to the country from Britain when he was seven.
The men were arrested on low-level drug-dealing and weapons charges and were allegedly robbing motorists on a stretch of highway leading south through Navolata, Sinaloa prosecutors said Friday.
Sinaloa state prosecutor, Marco Antonio Higuer said he expects homicide charges to be filed against them soon.
'This is just a gang of five people who committed highway robberies. They don't have links to drug cartels,' Higuera said.
Prosecuters also acknowledged that one of the accused has previously been investigated for a robbery that resulted in the death of a man.
After forcing the van to stop the thieves are believed to have shot the pair after Mr Coleman resisted the robbery.
The van was then driven to a rural road where it was set alight with gasoline.
The bodies are yet to be identified but DNA testing is under way.
A shotgun, pistols, 124 small bags of methamphetamine and jackets with police logos on them were all presented as evidence
It was unclear whether they were wearing the police jackets at the time they allegedly stopped the van.
According to prosecutors, a lookout for the gang spotted the pair's van before it got to Navolato and advised his accomplices it was a likely target.
The thieves are believed to have stopped the van after it passed a toll booth, as the two Australians drove south through Sinaloa toward Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city.
Julio César González, 27, allegedly discharged his weapon at the victims and Sergio Simón Benítez González, 37, and Martín Rogelio Muñiz, 27, are alleged to have participated by intercepting the van.
The hunt is still on for Luis Enrique, 38, who allegedly discharged his weapon at the victims and set the van alight and the youngest suspect, Jesus Uriel Camacho, 20, who is believed to have ambushed the victims.
Coleman and Lucas were travelling from Edmonton, Alberta, and failed to arrive to their destination Guadalajara on November 21.
They were last seen leaving a ferry from the Baja California peninsula at Topolobampo, Sinaloa, at about 10:30 p.m. on November 20.
The burned-out van was found the next day by local Mexican authorities.
Although results of the DNA testing are yet to conclude, the families of the pair have little doubt the victims in the van are their loved ones.
A fundraising page on gofundme was launched to help aid the families of Mr Lucas and Mr Coleman, to conduct the necessary tests and funeral costs in helping bring them back to Western Australia.
Friends shared moving tributes to Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas on Wednesday after the burned-out van was discovered.
And Mr Lucas's devastated partner Josie Cox said she would complete his long-awaited holiday.
'Doing what Dean Lucas would've wanted, finishing his surf trip off,' wrote Ms Cox, who has travelled to Mexico in search of answers.
'See u at the ocean Hun! Love and miss u soooo [sic] much.'
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