Police commander abducted in Mexican coastal state

VERACRUZ, Mexico – Authorities say a police commander in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz was abducted by armed men following a car chase.

State Public Safety Subsecretary Remigio Ortiz Olivares says Cmdr. Raul Espinoza and a guard were kidnapped about 5 a.m. Saturday in Boca del Rio, just south of the port city of Veracruz.

He says that an SUV forced the police vehicle in which the two were traveling off the road and then abducted them.

Police later spotted the suspected kidnappers' vehicle and exchanged gunfire with the occupants. One officer was wounded. The SUV sped south out of the city.

Twelve suspected cartel gunmen and two soldiers were killed Thursday during a nearly six-hour gun battle in the Veracruz state capital of Xalapa.