The 57 students missing after the Iguala attack, are feared in the hands of organized crime

Borderland Beat posted by Pepe

 "Mondragon's face had been flayed and his eyes removed, the kind of mutilation typical of underworld killings."

The students attacked over the weekend in Iguala, a city in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, said Monday they feared that the  57 young people reported missing in the area are in the hands of an organized crime group.

The incident started on Friday night when "a group of police officers tried to cut off the buses" carrying the young people, a student at the teachers college in Ayotzinapa who witnessed the violence told Efe.

"After a struggle, the (municipal) police officers used their arms against the students, who had just finished taking up a collection to cover the expenses of the boarders at the Normal (School)," the student said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Mexico's normal schools train future primary-school instructors.

More than 20 classmates were taken away in patrol cars with the numbers 017, 018, 020, 022 and 028, the student said, adding that since then "nothing has been heard from them."

A group of armed civilians attacked the students just before midnight Friday as they held a press conference, killing two young people.

"We all ran away from there, it was very dark and all you heard were the blasts, the comrades dispersed and we have not learned of the whereabouts of at least 30 others who are still missing," the student said.

Authorities found the body the next day of Julio Cesar Mondragon, lying 500 meters (about 1,640 feet) from the scene of the second attack.

Mondragon's face had been flayed and his eyes removed, the kind of mutilation typical of underworld killings.

Three people, including a minor, were killed in another attack on Friday night targeting a bus carrying the Third-Division Avispones soccer team from Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero.

15 year old futbol player killed in team bus attack

Relatives fear that an organized crime group may be holding the missing students and called on army and police commanders to speed up the search.

Classmates and relatives have been searching for the missing students, who range in age from 18 to 25, since Saturday, contacting hospitals and the morgue in Iguala, a city located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Chilpancingo.

The disappearance of the 58 students reported by the Ayotzinapa Normal School's Student Committee is being investigated and a search has been launched, the Guerrero state government said Sunday night.

Protests were organized Monday at the nine normal schools in Guerrero to demand the safe return of the missing students.

The demonstrators plan to demand the resignations of Gov. Angel Aguirre and Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca, who are both members of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD.

Abarca told MVS radio that he was informed on Friday night of disturbances involving the students, who allegedly beat and robbed people attending an official event in Iguala's main plaza.

Security Secretary Felipe Flores was given orders to monitor the situation but "not touch anyone," Abarca told the radio station on Monday.

The mayor said he learned about "the deaths of some people" via social networks and media reports early Saturday.

Twenty-two police officers have been arrested in connection with the wave of violence, which also left 17 people wounded, the Guerrero state government said. 

Meanwhile, president Peña cancelled his scheduled trip to Guerrero, his visit was scheduled for today.

2000 Normalistas march on the capital of Guerrero

At least 2,000 normalistas-students studying to become primary school educators) their families, and teachers, marched at  noon  through the main streets in the capital of Guerrero to demand justice for the violent events recorded on 26 and 27 September in Iguala, which took a toll of:

six dead, including three normalistas

17 wounded 

and 57 missing

In mobilizing the protesters decided to march to the headquarters of the local Congress to demand a meeting with MPs. 

At the main entrance of the compound burned in effigy two figures  with the face of the governor Angel Aguirre.

When the group was ignored, they began throwing stones at windows and set afire the library building.   

SDP-Latino Fox-EFE