Two Years Later, Unsolved Iguala Case Underscores Mexico Security Failures

09/28/16 InSight Crime

The case of Mexico‘s 43 missing students remains unsolved after two years, underscoring the reasons for the deep distrust many Mexican citizens harbor toward their government when it comes to matters of crime and security.

On the evening of September 26, 2014, police in the city of Iguala in Guerrero state attacked a group of students from a teacher’s college in the nearby town of Ayotzinapa. Over the course of a few hours, the police — along with several unidentified gunmen — killed six people, injured dozens more, destroyed several vehicles and apprehended 43 students, none of whom have been seen alive since that night.

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Accused Drug Kingpin Fails to Win Stay of Extradition to Mexico

09/21/16 The Wall Street Journal

An accused drug kingpin, whose mansion yielded the world’s largest cash seizure, faces imminent extradition to Mexico after a refusal by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts to grant an emergency stay.

Wednesday’s order could end a nearly decade long U.S. legal battle for Zhenli Ye Gon, who has been in custody since 2007.

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How Mexico Saves Its Citizens From U.S. Executions

09/22/16 The Atlantic

When the body of 25-year old Lesley Hope Plott was found lying in a ditch in Russellville, Alabama, in February of 2013, police had little trouble zeroing in on a suspect: hours earlier, a nearby church’s security camera had recorded her being beaten and stabbed by her estranged husband, Angel Campos Nava.

Born in Mexico, Nava, 36, had come to the United States years earlier. He had already been convicted of assaulting Plott on two earlier occasions. A murder conviction could result in the death penalty.

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Tamaulipas Kidnapping Highlights Insecurity in Border Region

09/16/16 InSight Crime

The abduction of 15 individuals from a bus traveling between Mexico‘s northeastern states of Tamaulipas and Coahuila highlights insecurity in Mexico‘s border states, and recalls previous episodes of mass kidnappings of migrants as immigration into the United States surges.

The incident, which occurred on September 12, was not confirmed until September 14 by Coahuila’s state secretary, Victor Zamora, according to Animal Politico.

Minutes after leaving the bus station in the city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, which sits near the Coahuila border, the bus was intercepted by armed men, the driver told officials. The 15 individuals were forced off the bus, loaded into various vehicles, and driven away.

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Governor of Mexico’s Guerrero State Again Calls for Poppy Legalization

09/19/16 InSight Crime

The governor of Mexico‘s Guerrero state is again calling for the legalization of opium poppy, the plant from which heroin is derived, as a remedy for extreme insecurity — a solution that ignores the underlying factors driving heightened violence levels.

Guerrero Gov. Héctor Astudillo has put forward legalization of poppy for medicinal purposes — echoing statements he made in March — as an alternative route for reducing the violence that is plaguing the state,reported Animal Politico.

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Mexico Migrant Kidnappings on the Rise?

09/15/16 InSight Crime

Migration activists in Mexico are warning about a growth in the number of kidnappings of migrants by crime groups, and they blame the government’s policies for exacerbating the situation.

Tomás González, a priest who runs a migrant shelter in the state of Tabasco, recently told La Opinión that he had encountered several groups of migrants in the past few months who claimed that they had been kidnapped and forced to pay a ransom in order to secure their release.

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Top Investigator in Case of Missing Students in Mexico Resigns

09/14/16 The New York Times

MEXICO CITY — The chief of criminal investigations for Mexico’s attorney general resigned late Wednesday amid an internal affairs inquiry into his office’s handling of the case of 43 college students who vanished nearly two years ago.

A brief government statement said the attorney general, Arely Gómez González, had accepted the resignation of Tomás Zerón de Lucio from his post as head of criminal investigations, and “wished him success in his personal and professional projects.”

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