Police say at least nine people have been killed and seven wounded in a shootout in eastern Guatemala that is likely tied to drug traffickers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Ricardo Gatica Trejo says the nine people killed were apparently ambushed Tuesday in the town of Teculutan.

Trejo says police have arrested three Mexicans and three Guatemalans who were carrying an arsenal of automatic rifles and grenades near the shootout. Investigators are still trying to determine if those arrested are linked to the attack.