ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATIONbr br Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the families of missing Mexican students on Wednesday (November 12) and spoke of the harsh realities of the criminal world caught up in drug trafficking in the region.br br Forty-three trainee teachers were abducted by corrupt Mexican police in league with drug gang members, and are believed to have been massacred.br br "I want somehow, to express my closeness to the Mexicans who are here and those back home, in this painful time following the legal disappearance, but we know it was a murder, of the students" Pope Francis, speaking in Spanish, told a packed St. Peter's square.br br "The dramatic reality of all the crime that exists behind drug trafficking becomes evident" he said.br br "I am close to you and to your families" Pope Francis said.