Three suspected gang members were arrested for the murder last September of French-Spanish journalist Christian Poveda, El Salvador's National Police (PNC) said on Monday.

The individuals, believed to be members of the Mara-18 gang, were arrested and charged with homicide, according to the PNC.

Monday's arrests came on top of 25 others that were made in September and December in connection with the slaying.

Police said the three are suspected of acting as lookouts on Sept. 2, 2009, when Poveda was shot and killed in a rural area on the outskirts of Tonacatepeque, a town about 16 kilometers northeast of the capital of San Salvador.

The Mara-18 allegedly carried out the killing after three meetings between gang members, according to a PNC report, which said at least 36 people had a part in the murder.

Poveda, 54, directed the documentary “La Vida Loca” (Crazy Life), depicting the daily lives of a group of gang members in Soyapango. Media outlets said that Poveda, who also covered the country's 1980-1992 civil war, witnessed three homicides while shooting the film, which has been seen at film festivals in the United States, Mexico, Spain and Cuba, as well as in El Salvador.

PNC agents are looking for seven more people for suspected connections with the killing, a PNC spokesman, who had his face covered with a ski mask, told the newswire EFE.

Police estimate the number of gang members in El Salvador at roughly 10,000, most of them affiliated either with the M-18 or its main rival, Mara Salvatrucha.