Couple arrested for 10 femicides in Ecatepec

Mexican authorities

have arrested a couple suspected of murdering at least 10 women, as well as human trafficking, for allegedly selling a baby girl.

Alejandro Gómez

, the State of Mexico's Attorney General , said in a video posted on Facebook that the couple was tracked down during the search for three missing women, one of whom disappeared along with her baby.

The couple, a man and a woman, were arrested on Thursday after they left a house in Ecatepec , a municipality in the State of Mexico , with a pram, in which investigators had hoped to find the missing child, Gómez said in the video.

Instead, they found a black bag containing human remains.

The investigations revealed the couple had previously deposited other human remains nearby. Under questioning, the man identified as Juan Carlos N confessed murdering 20 women, raping them, selling their body parts, and belongings. He also said he was forced to dress as a woman by his mother, which sparked off his hatred against women.

The motive for the killings is unclear.

The couple admitted to having sold the missing two-month-old baby girl, who was found safe and returned to her grandmother. The couple who acquired the baby was arrested, Gómez said.

Thousands of women have disappeared or have been murdered in Mexico in recent years. According to government statistics, there were at least 2,585 femicides last year, up from 1,755 in 2015.

Of the total, the largest number of femicides took place in the State of Mexico , the most populous region of the country, and Ecatepec has become notorious as a center of the killings and femicides .

Six states account for 40% of femicides in Mexico

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