Former governor of Guerrero arrested on Ayotzinapa-related charges

Federal authorities in Mexico announced on Thursday the arrest of former Guerrero Governor Ángel Heladio Aguirre Rivero, who served from 2011 to 2014, in connection with the 2014 abduction and presumed murder of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College. The arrest came as part of a new investigative model undertaken by the Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR), which reexamined the case and confirmed Aguirre's alleged participation in the concealment of evidence related to the students' whereabouts.

The students were last seen on September 26, 2014, after their bus was stopped by municipal and state police in Iguala, Guerrero, who allegedly handed them over to a crime gang known as Guerreros Unidos. The FGR's Attorney General, Ernestina Godoy, stated that Aguirre ordered the destruction of video footage that showed the bus at the time of its stop, a claim that was later found to be false.

A cooperating witness testified that Aguirre had directed the concealment of evidence during a meeting with top officials from his government. Aguirre was detained in Tepotzotlán, a municipality north of Mexico City, and transferred to Altiplano federal prison in Almoloya de Juárez. This arrest marks one of the most significant in connection with the Ayotzinapa case, which brought international attention and protests when it came to light.

Despite the case's impact, no one has been convicted, and many suspects have been released. The previous federal government, led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had previously identified three possible reasons for the abduction, including the presence of drugs, weapons, or money on the students' buses.