Former Mayor of Iguala and Wife Arrested in Mexico City Police Operation UPI
go to original November 4, 2014

A mayor and his wife who authorities suspect of plotting a mass abduction have been arrested. CNN's Rafael Romo reports. (CNN)

MEXICO CITY - The fugitive mayor and wife wanted in connection with the disappearance of 43 college students in Mexico's Guerrero state have been captured.

According to Federal police spokesman Jose Ramon Salinas, Iguala's Mayor Jose Luis Abarca and wife Maria de los Angeles Pineda were arrested 120 miles away, in Mexico City.

Abarca and Pineda fled Iguala shortly after the students were last seen clashing with local police on Sept. 26. He was impeached on Oct. 17 for his ties to organized crime and alleged role in the case of the missing college students.

An arrest warrant was issued last month for the couple. Authorities believe Abarca and his wife were the "probable masterminds" in the attack on the students. According to the attorney general, the couple wanted to get rid of the students because they didn't want the students' protest to disrupt a planned political event hosted by Pineda in the town the same day.

El Universal newspaper reported that Abarca and Pineda were renting a home in Mexico City's Iztapalapa district, and may have been turned in by the owner.

Early Tuesday morning, Federal police entered the home and captured the two fugitives without incident.

Read the rest at UPI

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!