Mexican police have arrested a new suspect in connection with the kidnapping and alleged killing of 43 students in September 2014.
The office of Mexico's Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam identified Felipe Rodriguez, also called "Brush" or "The Stubborn One," as a member of the Mexican gang Guerreros Unidos, according to PBS. The police said they believe Rodriguez is the "material author" of the students' murders in Iguala.
Police arrested Rodriguez Thursday in Jiutepec, about 55 miles south of Mexico City, the U.K.'s International Business Times reported. Prosecutors accused Rodriguez of ordering gang members to burn the bodies and clothing of the students to destroy the evidence. Members of the Guerreros Unidos cartel have confessed to killing the students, who attended a left-wing agricultural academy.
The students were preparing for a protest on Sept. 26, 2014 when they disappeared. The students were allegedly stopped by police on the orders of the local mayor Jose Luis Abarca. He supposedly wanted to prevent the students from disrupting a speech he was giving later that night. Abarca and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, were accused of ordering police to hand the students over to the cartel.
Police identified the remains of one of the missing students in December, PBS reported. Police detained Abarca and his wife under suspicion of their involvement. The Mexican police have taken about 385 statements and arrested 97 people in connection to the murders. Authorities said no member of the military or federal law enforcement have been implicated in the disappearance or suspected murders of the students.
