Two men were sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for murdering two police officers in the south-western state of Guerrero, said Attorney General of Mexico (PGR) on Saturday.

Julian "D" and Crescencio "D" were held responsible for the murder, which occurred in 2017 when police were ambushed by a criminal group in the municipality of San Miguel Totolapan.

Police detained the two men during an operation against Los Tequileros, a local criminal group known for extortions, mass kidnappings and murders in the small town of Guerrero.

The judge also ordered the defendants to pay a total of 754,900 pesos (38,880 U.S. dollars) in fines and reparations to the victims' families, according to the PGR.

The defendants are reportedly related to Raybel Jacobo de Almonte, the fugitive leader of Los Tequileros, who was a former member of the Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana, said the police.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has continued the crackdown started by his predecessor against drug-related violence, leading to the splitting of larger organizations in recent years. An increasingly complex situation confronts the government, with the number of intentional homicides exceeding 29,000 in 2017, according the U.S. think tank Congressional Research Service.