Eight soldiers have been arrested in Mexico for their involvement in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014. The students were allegedly murdered, and the case remains unsolved.

Nearly nine years ago, 43 students were kidnapped in southern Mexico and allegedly murdered. Now, eight soldiers have been taken into custody for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping according to Alejandro Encinas, the Secretary of State at the Interior Ministry, who announced the arrests on Twitter. They are accused of “enforced disappearance.”

Four other army members are already in custody, including a commander who allegedly ordered the killing of six of the young men. Arrest warrants have been issued for eight more soldiers.

The eight suspects were arrested one week after the Mexican Attorney General’s Office reactivated 16 arrest warrants against military members that were issued in September 2022 but later cancelled.

The arrests came approximately one month before an independent commission established in 2015 is set to release its findings regarding the disappearances. In late March, the commission accused the Mexican military of deliberately withholding information about the disappearance of the students almost ten years ago.

Three victims identified thus far

Security forces abducted the students from buses in Iguala on September 26, 2014, and handed them over to a local drug gang that apparently killed and burned them. The case remains unsolved, and the motive for the kidnapping is unclear. Mexican law enforcement is investigating the case as enforced disappearance as only human remains of three of the victims have been identified. Increasing evidence suggests that police and military officers collaborated with drug traffickers.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador established the investigation commission due to the many unanswered questions surrounding the case. The Truth Commission declared the crime a state crime last August and declared the students dead. Numerous members of the Guerreros Unidos drug gang, as well as police and officials, were arrested.

The former Attorney General is accused of manipulating the investigation to quickly conclude the case. He is also accused of allowing torture methods and being partially responsible for the students’ disappearances.