**FGR Reapprehends ‘El Gil’, Leader of Guerreros Unidos, in Connection with Ayotzinapa Case**
On the night of September 6, 2024, agents from the Federal Ministerial Police (PFM) of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) rearrested Gildardo López Astudillo, alias “El Gil.” López Astudillo, a former leader of the criminal organization Guerreros Unidos, is one of the alleged perpetrators linked to the disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College on September 26, 2014, in Iguala, Guerrero. He was apprehended on Morelos Street in the Santa Martha Acatitla area of Iztapalapa in Mexico City.
‘El Gil’ was also detained by elements of the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR) based on an arrest warrant issued by the Ninth District Court in Guerrero for organized crime, specifically drug trafficking offenses, as per criminal case 7/2016. According to the National Detention Registry (RND) of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), López Astudillo was transferred to the FGR sub-delegation in Tacubaya and subsequently taken to the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1, El Altiplano, in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico.
In March 2024, López Astudillo sought a legal injunction to prevent any potential arrest due to benefits obtained from collaborating with the FGR exclusively regarding the Ayotzinapa case. However, in May 2024, the head of the Second District Court of Amparo in Criminal Matters in Mexico City denied his injunction, reactivating the arrest warrant against him.
### Secondary Article: The Controversial Release of “El Gil” in 2019
In September 2019, the release of Gildardo López Astudillo stirred significant controversy. Alejandro de Jesús Encinas Rodríguez, head of the Undersecretariat for Human Rights, Population, and Migration within the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB), expressed his outrage terming the release as “indignant.” He emphasized that the decision was not just unfortunate but challenged the justice system’s integrity, advocating for a thorough review.
Encinas’s statements came when a federal judge had absolved and released López Astudillo on August 31, 2019, after dismissing 81 pieces of evidence presented by the FGR, declaring them unlawfully obtained. Accusations of torture and arbitrary detention tainted much of the evidence against López Astudillo, resulting in the judge finding insufficient grounds for his conviction.
The inadequacies of the now-defunct Attorney General’s Office (PGR) during the investigation allowed López Astudillo’s release, noted then-National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) president Luis Raúl González Pérez. Echoing these concerns, González Pérez highlighted the procedural deficiencies that led to such unsuccessful prosecutions.
Reports indicated that López Astudillo had testified under duress, alleging he was tortured during his interrogations. López Astudillo’s initial arrest in September 2015 by the Federal Police and his subsequent allegations of rigorous mistreatment raised significant concerns about the legitimacy of the entire judicial process concerning the Ayotzinapa case.
Further compounding the issue, human rights organizations such as the CNDH and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico had documented cases of torture among those detained in connection with the Ayotzinapa disappearances.
In light of these developments, Encinas stressed the necessity of reassessing the entire case, recognizing it as a deep-seated issue influenced significantly by systemic torture practices. The subsequent reevaluation would ostensibly aim to uphold justice for the families of the disappeared students and ensure accountability for the perpetrators.
As the case continues to unfold, it exemplifies the complex interplay between crime, justice, and human rights within Mexico’s legal landscape. The reapprehension of López Astudillo in 2024 represents another chapter in the ongoing quest for truth and accountability in the Ayotzinapa case.