Chetumal, Q.R. — Four police officers remain in custody after being arrested for the kidnapping of three young men last week. Authorities say three of the officers arrested are from the municipal police while the fourth has been identified as a state officer.
The head of the State Attorney General’s Office, Raciel López Salazar, confirmed their arrests on Monday. During a press conference, he said all four are facing charges of forced disappearance of persons, abuse of authority and vehicle theft.
The three men and one woman have been identified as José Gerardo “N”, Ángel Israel “N”, José Rogelio “N” and Ana Karen “N”.
According to López Salazar, elements of the Investigative Police, in coordination with the State and Municipal Secretariats of Citizen Security, executed an arrest warrant against three males and one female.
He said the four arrested officers remain in custody for their probable involvement in acts possibly constituting the crimes of forced disappearance of persons, abuse of authority and vehicle theft.
The detainees are identified as José Gerardo “N”, Ángel Israel “N”, José Rogelio “N”, and Ana Karen “N”, who, according to the investigation, allegedly participated in the disappearance of three young people in the early morning hours of August 29th of this year on Boulevard Bahía, he said.
“Three of the suspects are municipal police officers and one is a state police officer,” he confirmed.
“The events occurred when the aforementioned individuals allegedly intercepted one of the victims to hand him over to a criminal group. Two of the detained youths were released hours later, while a third reappeared on the night of August 31, after being beaten,” Salazar explained.
“We will not tolerate any authority that abuses its power, much less that is complicit with criminal groups. Police officers have a great responsibility to care for and protect the public.
“These corrupt officers have already been brought before a judge for the aforementioned crimes, and they will face a trial that could result in a sentence of more than 50 years in prison,” he added.
Chetumal Mayor Yensunni Martínez Hernández warned that there will be no protection or cover-up for the officers accused of participating in the forced disappearance of three young people in Chetumal.
The three youths have been identified as 23 year old Evarado “M”, 21 year old Luis Manuel “C” and 20 year old Jonathan “A”, two of whom are university students.
The three youths were intercepted by the four police officers after leaving a Chetumal nightclub on August 29. One of the young men was intercepted by police while driving and subsequently handed over to members of a criminal group.
All three young men were located alive. Salazar did not name the criminal group or say how the officers were connected to them, nor did he elaborate on why the corrupt officers handed over one of the young men.
