Jose Luis Abarca, former mayor of Iguana, Mexico, has been charged for his reported involvement in last year's kidnapping of 43 student teachers.
The student teachers are now feared dead. Forty-four people, in addition to Abarca, have been charged in the kidnapping. This marks the first time charges have been brought against Abarca that are directly related to the students' kidnapping, though Abarca and his wife were suspected of the crime in October.
The student teachers were reportedly abducted on Sept. 26 by police officers who were working with a local drug gang. Abarca and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, were captured by police in Mexico City in November. Abarca had already faced charges of organized crime as well as kidnapping and murder charges in other cases.
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