A group of armed men kidnapped and killed four people in the northern Colombian department of Cordoba, police said Wednesday.
According to Cartagena newspaper El Universal, the group of 15 armed men killed their first victim on Tuesday evening before going to the ranch where they held 12 ranch workers hostage.
Eye witnesses told the newspaper that the armed men accused workers of belonging to a rival drug gang, handcuffed them, took them to the field where they executed other victims.
Other workers were told to run while the gang shot at their fleeing victims.
A high police official told W Radio that the group killed the victims and fled when police and army approached.
The Cordoba department is important for the drug routes to the Caribbean coast. A number of drug gangs are fighting over control over the area.