Mexico's Most Wanted Couple
Mexico has a real insidious problem with drug cartels that are able to buy the support of police, soldiers and political leaders. No wonder the average the Mexican is furious and distrustful of anyone that is suppose to protect them.
The town of Iguala is close to Mexico City and on Sept. 26th, 2014, over 100 students from a local teacher's college to travel to Iguala to protest against the Mexican government about how programs are funded. The government tends to fund students from urban areas more than those from rural area. However, the Federal Police had blocked two key routes as ordered by the Mayor, to Iguala where they were also planning to demonstrate. The students had hijacked three buses. When the buses encountered the police, a chase ensued and police began to open fire upon them, killing two. The buses stopped and the many students ran into the surrounding area. Around the same time, a soccer team was enroute in the area and police thinking the vehicles were part of the student group, opened fired on them killing three others. Police found a body on the 27th of a student skinned and their eyes gouged out in a gruesome scene.
Once the students had all been gathered they were transported to Iguala. Once there, the were handed over the police in Cocula. This is where the drug cartel enters. The police chief then handed the 43 students to a local drug cartel, United Warriors. Another local drug cartel, Los Rojos, fought for control in this general area. Both cartels feared that the students posed a threat to their organization in some way. What happened to them remains an unknown. But 15 of the students were killed, tossed in a pit, burned to ashes. Another 14 managed to flee and tell the story.
The Mexican government is greatly embarrassed and forced to cleanse the Iguala law enforcement and arrested 22 officers.All are in prison now. As far the mayor of Iguala, he basically fled after initially claiming he knew nothing about it and innocent. Both he and wife fled to Mexico City to a working class area. Both are in custody. Police have uncovered a mass grave containing 38 people but none have been identified as them being students. As the investigation continued, Federal police arrested another 56 people involved in the crime.
The former mayor received $220K every other week from the drug cartels to buy-off local police officers for their cooperation. The Warriors United drug cartel is growing and known for its practice of growing poppies and sending opium paste to be refined into heroin destined for the US market. According to Abraca, the former mayor, he was under the false assumption that he was the target of the student protests, so he ordered the police to just stop them. Four members of the drug cartel have also been arrested. Three of them admit to killing around 40 students back on Sept. 26, tossing them into a pit and incinerating them in a huge pit fire until they turned to dust. However, the parents still hope this is not true, believing they are still alive.
The whole crime event caused 50,000 to demonstrate in Mexico City and a total of 74 police or public officials arrested.
