9 killed in violence-plagued northern Mexican city

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Nine people were shot to death early Thursday in the center of Monterrey, the third-largest city in Mexico and the scene of rampant drug violence in recent years.

The bodies of eight men between ages 25 and 30 were found on a street corner after neighbors reported hearing gunfire, said Adrian de la Garza, the Nuevo Leon state attorney general. The body of a woman was found nearby.

De la Garza said the crimes appeared to be linked by the type of weapon used, but provided no more details.

He didn't say if the killings were drug related.

This northern industrial city has been plagued by fighting between the Gulf and Zetas cartels, former allies that split in early 2010.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the Mexican army announced the arrest of a suspect in a 2008 bombing attempt aimed at a municipal police official in Mexico City.

The army statement said Oscar Santoyo Rodriguez, alias "El Mosco," was captured in the southern state of Oaxaca last week.

Santoyo, an alleged member of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, is accused of participating in a Feb. 15, 2008, bombing plot in the capital. The attack failed when the homemade bomb detonated prematurely, killing the man carrying it and injuring a woman who authorities said was also involved.