Mexico’s Deep-Rooted Collusion Exposed: How Authorities Aided a Cartel’s Brutality
For nearly a decade, Mexico has been haunted by an infamous unsolved case involving 43 college students who were abducted, disappeared, and allegedly killed by a drug cartel with assistance from police and military forces. The perplexing mystery has kept the nation in its grip, prompting questions about how such a terrible atrocity could unfold.
A recent breakthrough sheds light on the shadows that obscured this gruesome event. The New York Times has gained access to around 23,000 confidential text messages, witness testimonies, and investigative documents, offering a clearer understanding of the collusion between various arms of government and the criminal group responsible for the students’ disappearance.
These documents point to an alarming revelation: Government entities in the southern region of Mexico had secretly aligned with the cartel, effectively placing the machinery of the state at the service of criminals. The messages reveal police commanders directly obeying cartel orders, even providing guns to its members and carrying out rival hits as instructed. The military, aware of the abduction, was found to be complicit, with cartel bribes influencing their actions.
This collusion transformed public officials into de facto employees of the cartel, fueling the circumstances that enabled the mass killing of the students. The loyalty exhibited was profound, indicating the extent of the criminal organization’s influence over those in power.
While it had been previously suspected that officials either assisted in the abduction or passively watched, the text messages illuminate the motive behind this nefarious cooperation.
The messages, though few have been released to the public, paint a vivid picture of the cartel’s manipulation. Rather than sporadic bribes, the criminal group essentially controlled government figures. This subservience facilitated the chilling abduction of the 43 students, creating a tragic symbol of a system unable to bring justice to the forefront.
As investigations continue, the cartels’ conversations were intercepted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration during a separate drug-trafficking investigation in 2014. After years of Mexican requests for access to these messages, they were only handed over in 2022 due to lingering distrust of the Mexican government.
Although these text messages do not cover the night of the students’ disappearance, they serve as a compelling testament to the extent of government collaboration with criminal forces. The investigations persist, revealing the dark underbelly of power dynamics that perpetuated a heinous crime for almost a decade.