Convicts wanted for 36 murders finally held

Two Dominicans, who fled to Mexico after they were implicated in 36 murders-for-hire, were detained there and have now been sent back to the Dominican Republic, police said.

Joel Bautista Vasquez and Sergio Humberto Mota Reynos are also accused of wounding 15 other people.

The pair fled the Dominican Republic for Mexico, where they were detained Tuesday, apparently while trying to cross the border into the US, police said Thursday.

They said Bautista and several associates fatally shot 19 people and wounded nine others, while Mota was linked to 17 killings.

The arrest and subsequent repatriation of the two accused gunmen represents the fruit of cooperation among law enforcement authorities in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Dominican police said.