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Mexican authorities Tuesday captured a fugitive former mayor wanted for his role in the abduction of 43 students in late September.
The ex-mayor of Iguala, in Mexico's southern state of Guerrero, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, were captured in a pre-dawn raid on the house where they were staying in Mexico City's populous working-class district of Iztapalapa.
According to media reports, Federal Police were tipped off to their location by two neighbors.
The daily Milenio online published photos of the rundown house where the Abarcas, both of whom had arrest warrants, were hiding for about a month. The pair had paid four months rent in advance, neighbors said.
At least three arrest warrants had been issued for Abarca for the crimes of homicide, attempted homicide and abduction in connection to the Sept. 26 clash between students of a teacher's college and municipal police in Iguala with ties to a local criminal ring.
The incident left six people dead, including three students, and led to the disappearance of 43 students, spotlighting the extent of corruption within the local government.
The political fallout led to the mayor being stripped of his post and to the governor of Guerrero stepping down.
Preliminary investigations suggest Abarca and his wife ordered the local head of security, Felipe Flores, to launch an attack on the students, fearing they were planning to disrupt a scheduled address Pineda was to give as head of the city's Integral Family Development (DIF) agency. The wives of local officials in Mexico traditionally serve as heads of the local DIF chapter.
The pair was taken into custody by the organized-crime division of the national Attorney General's Office (SEIDO). Enditem
