GUATEMALA CITY -- Three members of Guatemala's National Civilian Police, or PNC, were arrested for abuse of authority, dereliction of duty and armed robbery, the force's deputy director said Wednesday.

Rember Larios said that officers Edwin Villatoro, Frank Hernandez and Edgar Uluan are accused of robbing a couple at gunpoint on Oct. 12 in Guatemala City.

Larios noted that Villatoro is a 21-year veteran of the PNC.

An investigation by the PNC's internal affairs division found that the three officers made a practice of robbing tourists in the southern part of the capital, the deputy director said.

The PNC then turned the matter over to prosecutors, who are now seeking to determine whether the cops raped any of the women they robbed.

Larios said that 62 PNC officers have been arrested this year on various charges.

Guatemalan human rights organizations have long pressed for a thorough house-cleaning at the PNC, which stands accused of ties to drug traffickers and other organized-crime elements. While the national ombudsman, Sergio Morales, says he suspects police of carrying out extrajudicial executions.

The PNC is also not very good at keeping Guatemalans safe.

The more than 5,400 homicides reported so far this year in Guatemala - a nation of some 13 million people - is roughly equal to the number of murders in neighboring Mexico, which has more than 100 million inhabitants and is the scene of open war among rival drug cartels.