Monterrey (Mexico), Nov 10 (IANS/EFE): Three teenagers accused of killing seven people while working at the service of a drug cartel have been arrested in northern Mexico, authorities said.

Highway patrol officers in the northern state of Nuevo Leon detained two males aged 16 and 17 and a 17-year-old female.

A spokesman for Nuevo Leon's public safety department told EFE that the two male youths said they were taking orders from the female and were tasked with tracking police movements and ordered to carry out killings and incinerate the bodies of their victims.

They confessed to kidnapping and killing their victims, whose bodies were dumped in a well, doused with gasoline and set on fire.

The spokesman did not indicate which criminal gang the suspects belonged to but local media said they were believed to be members of Los Zetas, regarded as Mexico's most violent drug cartel.

According to the state public safety department, three military-style rifles, 173 bullets, a bullet-proof vest and communications gear were seized from the suspects.

The minors led the authorities to the spot where they burned their victims' bodies. Bone remains found at the site were being analyzed by forensics personnel.