Mexico City, Jan 9 (IANS/EFE): Thirteen police officers in the Mexican state of Veracruz have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the disappearance of journalist Jose Moises Sanchez, the state's prosecutor Luis Angel Bravo has announced.

At the same time, the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) called on the country's federal attorney to investigate the case of the missing reporter.

The NHRC said in a statement Thursday that it made the request to the Special Prosecutor's Office for the Attention to Crimes Committed Against Freedom of Expression.

Sanchez disappeared Jan 2 after a group of gunmen in civilian clothes broke into his house in the Veracruz town of Medellin de Bravo, stole his computer, camera and phone and hustled him away.

Sanchez, 49, is the director and editor of the local weekly magazine, La Union, and worked as a citizen-journalist posting complaints about alleged corruption on social-networking sites.

Colleagues said he received several threats last year because of his work.

Mexico is considered as the most dangerous country in Latin America for journalists and one of the most dangerous in the world.