Mexico arrests Army general in connection with disappearance of 43 students

Mexico announced on Thursday that it had arrested an army general in connection with the disappearance of 43 students in 2014.

Gen. José Rodríguez Pérez was arrested alongside two other military officials, according to the New York Times.

"Four arrest warrants have been issued against members of the Mexican Army," Deputy Defense Minister Ricardo Mejía Berdeja said. "There are three people arrested, among them the commander of the 27th infantry battalion when the events took place in Iguala in September 2014."

Almost eight years ago, local college students were attempting to organize bus rides to the capital of Mexico City for a political demonstration when police officials and others violently dispersed them. A total of 43 students disappeared in the aftermath and few details are known beyond that.

Rodríguez was a colonel stationed in Iguala on the night of the mass disappearance, later determined to have been a kidnapping, the outlet noted. The deputy defense minister did not directly name him when announcing the arrests, though the outlet noted that past comments from public officials left no doubt that the general was among those arrested.

“Allegedly, six of the students were kept alive for up to four days after the events and were killed and disappeared on orders of the colonel, allegedly the then Colonel José Rodríguez Pérez," Mexican Under Secretary for Human Rights Alejandro Encinas said in August, per the Times.

Rodríguez is the highest ranked official arrested in connection with the Iguala kidnappings.