'El Gil' is taken to prison

Gildardo López Astudillo "El Gil," member of the Guerreros Unidos cartel, was taken to the federal prison of 'El Altiplano' in the State of Mexico, for his presumed participation in the disappearance of the 43 students from the teachers school of Ayotzinapa.

In a press release, the Office of the Attorney General (PGR) reported that López Astudillo faced an arrest order for kidnapping and another one for organized crime.

"López Astudillo was arrested last Wednesday in Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero, thanks to the investigative inter-institutional labor started by the federal authorities 11 months ago," reported the PGR.

López Astudillo, second-in-command in the Guerreros Unidos cartel, is reportedly the brains behind the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa students, believing them to be members of rival gang "Los Rojos."

López was the deputy of Sidronio Casarrubias Salgado, leader of the Guerreros Unidos gang that allegedly burned the students beyond recognition and threw their ashes to a river.

At a press conference on November 7, 2014, former attorney general Jesús Murillo Karam said that López sent messages referring to the students as members of "Los Rojos".