Former Guerrero governor arrested over alleged destruction of evidence in disappearance of 43 students

Mexican authorities arrested former Guerrero governor Angel Heladio Aguirre Rivero on August 6, 2026, after a federal review of the case into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students concluded there is evidence he ordered the destruction of material linked to the incident, the Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) said.

Authorities reopen probe into video evidence

The FGR said its new examination of the Ayotzinapa case — in which 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College vanished in September 2014 — identified "possible involvement" by Aguirre in a "cover-up of evidence." The students disappeared after the bus that was taking them toward Mexico City for a protest was stopped by municipal and state police.

Federal prosecutors reported that international inquiries have repeatedly pointed to organized criminal groups as the likely perpetrators and suggested possible police collusion. The recent probe, prosecutors said, uncovered indications that recordings showing the bus at the moment it was intercepted had been hidden on orders from senior officials.

Prosecutor Ernestina Godoy told reporters that investigators possess testimony from a cooperating witness who "confirmed the existence of the video recordings." According to Godoy, that witness identified the person who "removed" the footage so it could be "handed directly" to Aguirre. The witness, she added, had remained silent for a long time after receiving threats.

"The Federal Attorney General's Office has evidence that such an order to cover up was issued directly by the then-governor, with the participation of high state officials," Godoy said. Arresting Aguirre on August 6 is among the most significant developments in a case that sparked nationwide and international outrage, and large protests across Mexico City and elsewhere.

To date, only the remains of three students have been found. Dozens of suspects have been detained in connection with the disappearances over the years, but no one has been convicted for the crime; some detainees were later released.

Photo: EPA-EFE/Francisco Guasco