In a significant development regarding the notorious case of 43 missing students from Iguala, Mexico, a retired judge has been arrested on charges related to the tampering of crucial evidence. Lambertina Galeana Marín, aged 79, who once served as the president of the Superior Tribunal of Justice in Guerrero, is accused of orchestrating the erasure of vital CCTV footage implicated in the students' disappearance on September 26, 2014.
Galeana was taken into custody in Chilpancingo, following an arrest warrant that had been pending for three years. Families of the 43 students, who were enrolled at a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa, continue to seek justice and clarity over the incident that has haunted the nation for over ten years.
Despite numerous investigations, significant details surrounding the case remain obscured, with only three of the students' remains identified so far. The 2022 report from a governmental truth commission classified the sad saga as a state-sponsored crime where local law enforcement collaborated with the criminal organization Guerreros Unidos to forcibly disappear the students.
The students ventured to Iguala to commandeer buses for an annual protest in Mexico City, but were intercepted by local police and Guerreros Unidos, leading to their forced disappearance. The report alleges that local police became aware of the students' actions, prompting preemptive measures against them.
Evidence suggests that as local authorities attempted to collect information from the Palace of Justice's surveillance cameras, the footage capturing the events was mysteriously "lost." Prosecutors claim that Galeana may have directed the destruction of this critical evidence. The Mexican Ministry of Security stated that Galeana now faces serious charges, including forced disappearance, further intensifying the scrutiny of law enforcement's role in this unresolved tragedy.
