Detectives Found After Disappearance in Mexico

Two detectives, previously reported missing, have been found unharmed in Mexico’s Pacific coast state of Guerrero, according to officials. The detectives were investigating the case of 43 students who disappeared almost a decade ago, a case that has troubled the region for years.

Disappearance of Detectives

The two detectives, a man and a woman, went missing during their investigation. The officials did not disclose how they were found or whether they had been held captive. Prior to their discovery, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had announced a search for the missing detectives, expressing hope that their disappearance was not connected to those obstructing the search for the missing students.

Guerrero’s Struggle with Law and Order

The detectives’ disappearance is the latest indication of a breakdown in law and order in Guerrero state, home to the resort city of Acapulco. The state has been dealing with the unsolved case of the 43 missing students from a rural teachers’ college for a decade. The students are believed to have been abducted by local officials and handed over to a drug gang to be killed.

Rising Tensions

Student demonstrations and clashes with the police have escalated tensions in the state. Last week, a student was shot to death in a confrontation with police, leading to a police officer’s arrest and subsequent escape from custody. President López Obrador has acknowledged the state’s failure in guarding the officer and ensuring proper arrest protocols were followed.

Protests have continued unabated, with students breaking into state prosecutors’ offices in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state. These violent protests included setting off explosives and burning police vehicles.

Ongoing Search for Missing Students

The missing students are believed to have been killed and their remains burned by drug gang members. The two detectives were part of an ongoing effort to locate the students’ remains. However, authorities have only been able to identify the burned bone fragments of three of the 43 missing students.

The work primarily involves searching for clandestine body dumping grounds in rural, isolated parts of the state where drug cartels are active. Videos on social media have highlighted the dominance of drug cartels in the region, showing brutal enforcement tactics on those who fail to cooperate with them.

Political Unrest Amidst Crisis

The escape of the accused police officer and the disappearance of the detectives have spurred tensions between President López Obrador and the families of the missing students. The families accuse the president of not doing enough to investigate their sons’ fate.

This has resulted in protests at the National Palace in Mexico City, where López Obrador lives and works. Protesters, supporting the families of the missing students, rammed the palace’s doors and entered the building before being driven out by security agents. López Obrador has labeled these protests as provocations.