Mexico ex‑governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero placed in preventive detention over Ayotzinapa case

A judge at the high‑security Altiplano federal prison ordered preventive detention for former Guerrero governor Ángel Heladio Aguirre Rivero. The Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) accuses him of forced disappearance and obstruction of justice for allegedly ordering the concealment and destruction of video evidence linked to the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said new investigative lines are opening, noting that “different lines of investigation are leading to arrests, but the ultimate goal is to know the truth, achieve justice and find the young people.” The FGR’s indictment relies on testimonies that the ex‑governor received and later hid recordings from cameras outside the Iguala Palace of Justice. His defense sought house arrest citing health issues, but the court denied the request. Aguirre was captured on the Mexico‑Querétaro highway and transferred to the Altiplano facility. Ongoing probes involve the FGR, the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice (COVAJ), the Secretariat of Security and Protection, and the Criminal Investigation Agency.