Mexican authorities hold mayor of Cocula

Mexican prosecutors say the mayor of Cocula has been ordered held under house arrest after he was detained with a drug gang leader.

Erick Ulises Ramírez was detained just weeks after he took office as mayor of Cocula, in the southern state of Guerrero. Ramírez was not mayor when 43 teachers college students were allegedly killed in Cocula in late September 2014.

But Ramírez was caught Oct. 29 at a restaurant with Adán Zenen Casarrubias. Casarrubias allegedly leads the Guerreros Unidos gang, which prosecutors say killed and incinerated the students. He has been charged with weapons possession and drug crimes.

The attorney general's office said Tuesday a judge ordered Ramírez and three others held for 40 days under a form of house arrest, among them Eloy Flores Cantú, who claimed to be advisor for the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), an allegation that the party denied.