Authorities in Mexico say they have arrested an alleged cartel chief linked to the decades-old disappearance of dozens of students.
Gildardo Lopez Astudillo, a suspected cartel leader, was detained on charges of “organized crime” and taken to Altiplano maximum security prison in south-central Mexico, Reuters news agency reported, citing a federal security source.
This is the second time López Astudillo, known as “El Gil,” has been jailed for orchestrating the cartel he allegedly leads. Disappearances and suspected murders 43 students in Iguala in 2014, a case that shook the nation and ignited years of protests.
López Astudillo’s arrest came as relatives were preparing for a demonstration to mark the 10th anniversary of the students’ disappearance.
He was first arrested in 2015 before being released in 2019 after a judge found evidence against him had been illegally obtained.
According to El Paes newspaper, López Astudillo later served as a protected witness for the prosecutor’s office, offering alleged details about the criminal group’s involvement in the students’ disappearances.
What happened to the missing students?
In September 2014, 43 students who were traveling to a political demonstration in Mexico City were kidnapped by the Guerreros Unido drug cartel in what investigators believe was collusion with corrupt police.
The exact circumstances surrounding his disappearance are still unknown, but a government-constituted truth commission has termed the case a “crime of the state”, saying the military shared responsibility either directly or through negligence.
Dozens of suspects have been arrested or charged, including military personnel and the former attorney general who led the controversial investigation into the mass disappearances.
Only a few of the victims’ remains have been identified.
Post Mexico has arrested an alleged cartel kingpin along with 43 missing students appeared first Al Jazeera.