Former Guerrero Governor Angel Heladio Aguirre Rivero was arrested Thursday in connection with the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from a rural teacher's college. Aguirre was taken into custody in Mexico state and later transferred to the Altiplano federal prison in Almoloya de Juarez, according to authorities. The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said he is accused of concealing or destroying evidence connected to the students’ whereabouts.
The 43 young men disappeared in Iguala on September 26, 2014, after municipal and state police stopped buses carrying students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College who were traveling toward Mexico City. Authorities have alleged that police handed the students over to the Guerreros Unidos criminal group, reports Mexico News Daily.
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said investigators have evidence that Aguirre ordered officials to conceal video recordings showing one of the buses being stopped by police. “On the night of September 26, 2014, the ‘Estrella de Oro’ bus number 1531, on which the group of teacher-training students was traveling, was captured on video by security cameras 12 and 15, located outside the State Palace of Justice in Iguala, at the time it was stopped by municipal and state police officers,” Godoy said. “The first official statements claimed that the material in question did not exist due to alleged technical failures in the [security camera] system. However, subsequent investigations confirmed that this claim was false,” she said.
According to Godoy, a witness testified in January that the recordings existed and identified the person who removed them and delivered them to Aguirre. A second protected witness provided additional testimony in May, alleging Aguirre ordered senior officials to conceal evidence related to the events. “The Attorney General’s Office has evidence that confirms that said instruction of concealment was issued directly by the then governor, with the participation of high-level state public servants,” Godoy said.
The FGR said the new investigation “confirmed with full evidence and adherence to due process the possible participation” of Aguirre in the destruction of evidence. Aguirre governed Guerrero from 2011 until resigning in October 2014. His arrest is among the most prominent in the Ayotzinapa investigation, which has caused major protests across Mexico.
One three of the missing students’ remains have been identified. Numerous people, including soldiers, police officers, alleged members of Guerreros Unidos and former federal Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam, have been arrested in connection with the case. No one has been convicted of the crime.
The 43 young men disappeared in Iguala on September 26, 2014, after municipal and state police stopped buses carrying students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College who were traveling toward Mexico City. Authorities have alleged that police handed the students over to the Guerreros Unidos criminal group, reports Mexico News Daily.
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said investigators have evidence that Aguirre ordered officials to conceal video recordings showing one of the buses being stopped by police. “On the night of September 26, 2014, the ‘Estrella de Oro’ bus number 1531, on which the group of teacher-training students was traveling, was captured on video by security cameras 12 and 15, located outside the State Palace of Justice in Iguala, at the time it was stopped by municipal and state police officers,” Godoy said. “The first official statements claimed that the material in question did not exist due to alleged technical failures in the [security camera] system. However, subsequent investigations confirmed that this claim was false,” she said.
According to Godoy, a witness testified in January that the recordings existed and identified the person who removed them and delivered them to Aguirre. A second protected witness provided additional testimony in May, alleging Aguirre ordered senior officials to conceal evidence related to the events. “The Attorney General’s Office has evidence that confirms that said instruction of concealment was issued directly by the then governor, with the participation of high-level state public servants,” Godoy said.
The FGR said the new investigation “confirmed with full evidence and adherence to due process the possible participation” of Aguirre in the destruction of evidence. Aguirre governed Guerrero from 2011 until resigning in October 2014. His arrest is among the most prominent in the Ayotzinapa investigation, which has caused major protests across Mexico.
One three of the missing students’ remains have been identified. Numerous people, including soldiers, police officers, alleged members of Guerreros Unidos and former federal Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam, have been arrested in connection with the case. No one has been convicted of the crime.
