Mexico ? Gunmen kidnapped nine police officers investigating a death in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, and the bodies of two of the lawmen were found later, authorities said Saturday.

Fernando Monreal Leyva, director of the State Investigative Police, said one of his agency’s commanders and a team of eight agents had gone to identify and recover a body in a northern part of the state Friday. He said contact was lost with the group that afternoon, and officials learned the officers had been seized by an unknown gang of gunmen.

Searchers found the bodies of two officers near El Revelado, the community where the police group was kidnapped, Monreal said. He said the Mexican army was helping police search for the other missing officers.

Several drug gangs are battling for control of smuggling routes in Guerrero state.