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| A protest against the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero. |
The United States is set to close its investigation into crimes allegedly related to the disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, in 2014.
A leader of the Guerreros Unidos crime gang – which allegedly killed the Ayotzinapa rural teacher’s college students – has confessed to transporting drugs from Iguala to Chicago and reached an agreement with the United States government to provide information to the U.S. about the illegal smuggling.
Pablo Vega, who has been in prison in the United States for the past seven years, pleaded guilty in April to transporting drugs to the U.S. in passenger buses, according to the newspaper Milenio, which reviewed official U.S. documents.
The details of the agreement he reached with U.S. authorities is classified but it appears likely he will be released from prison as a result of his agreement to collaborate. José Rodríguez, an associate of Vega who was also a member of the Guerreros Unidos, is currently in negotiations with U.S. authorities and pending an agreement will officially plead guilty to trafficking charges on September 1, Milenio said.
Once that occurs the Ayotzinapa-Iguala case will be officially closed in the United States. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) determined several years ago that the Guerreros Unidos had transported heroin to the United States on passenger buses.
The gang transported the heroin in hidden panels on the buses that ran from its territory in Iguala to Aurora, a suburb of Chicago, the DEA established. By intercepting dozens of messages Vega received on his Blackberry phone, the DEA also concluded that Guerreros Unidos members in the United States were aware of the abduction of the 43 students on September 26, 2014.
The students were on a bus they had commandeered to travel to a protest in Mexico City when they were intercepted and came under attack by Iguala municipal police.
Independent experts who investigated the students’ disappearance said that one hypothesis is that the bus on which they were traveling was carrying drugs and would have left for the United States had it not been commandeered.
It was allegedly one of five buses carrying drugs that was scheduled to depart for the U.S. on the day the students disappeared. According to the previous federal government’s official version of events, the students were intercepted by corrupt municipal police who handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos.
Gang members then killed the students, burned their bodies in a dump in the municipality of Cocula and disposed of their remains in a nearby river, according to the so-called “historical truth” presented in January 2015.
But the “historical truth” was rejected by the current government, which established a truth commission and launched a new investigation. It hasn’t yet presented its own definitive version of events but is expected to do so soon. The remains of just three of the 43 students have been formally identified.
The remains of two of those showed no evidence of fire damage, leading Omar Gómez Trejo, the special prosecutor in charge of the reexamination of the case, to declare that the “historical truth is over.”
In order to disprove the previous theory the current government has been relying heavily on the declarations of a protected witness known only as Juan, Milenio reported this week.
The man – a suspected leader of the Guerreros Unidos who says he didn’t participate in the events of September 26 – provided testimony to the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in early 2020 (which was subsequently leaked) that asserted that the army and state police were directly involved in the disappearance of the 43 students.
In a court appearance in May, Juan presented information that added to and clarified his earlier testimony. He said that the army, Federal Police, Guerrero police and Iguala municipal police all collaborated with the Guerreros Unidos on the night of the students’ disappearance.
Juan also said that Jesús Pérez Lagunas, a Guerreros Unidos leader known as “El Güero Mugres” (The Filthy Blondie), issued an order for all the students to be killed. Milenio noted that authorities had not previously linked Pérez to the disappearance of the students.
El Güero Mugres was murdered in 2018. Juan previously said that three groups of students and suspected hitmen from a rival gang were detained on September 26. One group was taken away by the Guerreros Unidos, another was placed in the custody of state police and the third group was transported to an army base in Guerrero, he said.
Juan said the group taken to the army base was interrogated before being handed over to a cell of the Guerreros Unidos. Some of the students and suspected gang members were already dead at that time, he said.
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| Protesters carry signs showing the faces of the disappeared Ayotzinapa students |
The witness said the Guerreros Unidos killed those who were still alive and dissolved the bodies of the deceased in acid and caustic soda. Liquid remains were then poured down the drain, he said. Other students and suspected gangsters were allegedly butchered with machetes and axes at a cartel hideout in Iguala before some of their remains were cremated at a funeral home on the outskirts of Iguala.
Ashes were allegedly scattered in various locations, including in the municipality of Cocula, which borders Iguala.
All told, 70 or 80 people including the 43 students were killed on September 26 and 27, 2014, Juan told the FGR.
In his new testimony, he asserted that state and federal security officials including former Guerrero security minister Leonardo Octavio Vázquez Pérez, ex-attorney general Iñaki Blanco and an army captain were on the Guerreros Unidos’ payroll and in cahoots with El Güero Mugres. He previously accused Omar Harfuch, Mexico City’s police chief, who was previously a Federal Police coordinator in Guerrero, of being on the gang’s payroll but didn’t mention him in his most recent testimony.
Juan received the information he presented to authorities via radio and text messages and at a meeting on September 30, 2014, with Guerreros Unidos members involved in the crimes, Milenio said. Although 43 students disappeared, the Guerreros Unidos didn’t think that the case would become such big news, Juan told the court during his appearance at the hearing in May.
The case triggered mass protests against the federal government less than two years after former president Enrique Peña Nieto took office, and there was some belief – and a lot of hope – at the time that he could be ousted.
“Fue el estado,” or “It was the state” was a constant refrain at those protests and many, if not most, Mexicans remain convinced that federal security forces were involved in the students’ disappearance.
CUINI snitched
ReplyDeleteCdsnitches GROUPIE..
Thats koo foo
DeleteOkey dokey
DeleteNegative chief
DeleteTruth will never be told as to what really happened.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame.
Why is usa investigating? Almo will solve so stay in your lane American government.
ReplyDelete3:42 It's been many years this happened, and slow Mexican government couldn't solve it, and here you cry USA to stay out of it lol😂😂😂
DeleteYeah. In Mexico, it’s normal for “students” to hijack a bus, and for Police to turn them over to a cartel for torture, and cremation.
ReplyDeleteSpare me the Mexico is beautiful and has good people. The reality is Mexico fucked up and full of evil people.
Queso
Of course it's been getting messed up, the president and his cabinet are letting rampant violence happen, they want thier pockects padded with bribe money from Cartels, Mr. Queso Almo has the Military resources to fight off Cartels, but as you can see he rarely uses them. Furthermore when he does leave office, it's going to repeat itself with the next president.
DeleteIn all fairness i think it should be stated that the evil which people are quick to use should be reserved for the politicians and the government agencies that serve these 3 letter parties Pri , Pan , Dik or fag whatever the bastards call themselves . As for the people that have to try and survive themselves and I know Mexico is full of good people who have gone out of their way to protect me and treated me like family when they didnt even know me in situations i found myself in when I used to drink drug and raise hell down there when I was younger and dumber. I think these people are desperate if anything and they have no choice but to deal with the chaos and terror as it comes to them the only way they know how and I dont know what the solution is it's beyond legalizing drugs it's more about the greed and corruption and impunity to kill for the sport of it and I think any chance of getting back to a sensible safe Mexico you need to start with the head of the snake and work your way down and thats not the most popular solution but it is what it'll take to get the orchestrators of this nightmare under control . Basically eat the rich ! But the average person in Mexico is not evil theyve suffered things most humans could not even understand and they do it day after day just trying to live and raise a family the Evil comes from the greed of the politicians who wont even pay their security forces a fraction of what it costs to live and provide basic necessities for their families and they are expected to put their lives on the line and fight for the good of the people ? How fucking backwards assed is this ? Meanwhile the politicians are siphoning millions of dollars not pesos usd from anything and everything they can knowing but not caring if they get or when they get busted . Its time for common sense to rise above the greed of a few to serve the needs (basic needs) of the many . Good luck People some of us are behind you all the way and will help however we can .
Delete12:44 That's a large obstacle for the government to overcome. In the meantime as you said it's the citizens that suffer the most.
DeleteYour right most that are in office are there to stack up ll the money to live off, after being in office. Obrador was trying to pursade Vice president Harris to divert funding charities and send the money to his office. Furthermore are you aware USA funds Mexico. yearly in the millions to fight the war on drugs. But as you can see minimal effort on the Mexican side.
@8:31
DeleteYou would think outta those millions of dollars some would trickle down to the security forces but apparently thats not the case . That money goes into the pockets of a few fat pigs and the us govt. Gets to say they are doing all they can to keep their funding for fighting a bullshit war that has only one clear message Hypocrisy and Greed corruption and double standards are the lifeblood of any government nothing more nothing less . They serve no one but themselves and right now they are serving us 50 yr old bullshit and its time for it to stop .
6:51 Yes Sir, what you're stating are facts Mexico government would like to hide from all of us, thanks to alot of stuff BB pumps out I myself learn more.
DeleteThe Mexican Marina's where doing a good job with USA laision in making drug busts, they would do a quota of 5-6 busts a year, currently this year no busts yet, but nevertheless the yearly aid in Money comes in from USA.
Cienfugeos a Curupt retired military from Mexico was caught at LAX airport by DEA, puppet Obrador to Mexico military, said they will try him in Mexico, DEA had tapes of evidence, yet after a week he was released, Obrador said no evidence, furthermore he said will limit less of DEA to be on Mexican soil. Then US should cut back yearly aid to 30 percent.
soltó la sopa el cuini. no que muy hombre. no la aguanto mafioso de papel.
ReplyDelete