A judge has sentenced three men to 1,560 years each in prison for the kidnap and murder of 12 youths taken from a bar in Mexico City's Zona Rosa tourist and nightclub district.

The city prosecutor's office also said the judge imposed a fine of $300,000 on Ernesto Espinosa, Jose de Jesus Carmona and Victor Manuel Torres.

The 12 youths were kidnapped on May 26, 2013 from the Heaven bar, less than a block from the city's flagship Paseo de la Reforma boulevard.

Their bodies were found later in a mass grave outside the city.

Authorities say the killing was part of a dispute between gangs who control drug sales on street corners and in bars.

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