Mexican authorities arrest ex-army general linked to disappeared students

MEXICO CITY

Mexican authorities have arrested a retired army general for allegedly ordering the murders of six of the 43 college students who went missing in the southern state of Guerrero in 2014, the government said Thursday.

The apprehension of Jose Rodriguez Perez stems from a series of arrest warrants issued by prosecutors following the latest discoveries in an investigation of the night of Sept. 26, 2014, when 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College disappeared at the hands of a criminal gang in the city of Iguala.

Undersecretary of Security Ricardo Mejia Berdeja announced the arrest during a daily press conference. He said prosecutors had issued four arrest warrants for members of the military for their involvement in the case.

According to Mejia Berdeja, three of the four warrants have been executed with Rodriguez Perez's arrest.

"Four arrest warrants have been issued against elements of the Mexican Army. At the moment, three of them have been executed. There are three detainees, including the commander of the 27th Infantry Battalion when the events occurred in Iguala in September 2014,” he said.

In 2014, Rodriguez Perez was a colonel in charge of the 27th infantry battalion, the military unit responsible for detaining and handing over the students, who were deemed “radical” by local authorities, to members of the Guerreros Unidos criminal syndicate.

Since then, the remains of three of the students have been identified, while the fate of most of the students remains a mystery, with authorities saying there is no evidence that points to the students being alive.

By 2015, then Col. Rodriguez Perez was promoted to general for his "merit, skills and professional competence."

The latest discoveries from the investigation led by Undersecretary of Human Rights Alejandro Encinas have led to a series of arrests of members of the military and former political officials.

On Aug. 19, prosecutors announced that they had issued arrest warrants in the case for 20 army soldiers and officers, five local officials, 33 local police officers and 11 state police, as well as 14 gang members.

In addition, former prosecutor Jesus Murillo Karam was arrested for hindering the initial investigation in 2014.