Mexico City, January 23 (RHC-teleSUR)-- The Mexican Attorney General's Office admitted Wednesday that organized crime effectively governed many parts of the southern state of Guerrero where the 43 Ayotzinapa students were disappeared at the end of September.

The criminal groups had penetrated 13 of the local authorities and, in some, their control meant they were able to appoint themselves as police chief or effectively lead police operations, said Tomas Zeron, head of the Agency of Criminal Investigation.

In the town of Cocula, where the students were allegedly burnt according to the official, but contested version, the policemen were directly under the orders of the criminal cartel Guerreros Unidos, or United Warriors.

In front of the Mexican Senate, Zeron defended the initiatives of President Enrique Peña Nieto in the realms of security and justice, including the intervention of military forces in Guerrero. He claimed that creating consistent police institutions at a state level under the responsibility of governors could prevent the tragedy of the Ayotzinapa students.

His framework, however, has been undermined by a recent investigation that showed the involvement of state and federal police in this case, leading the students' relatives and other protestors to demand a deeper structural reform in security, as well as Peña Nieto's resignation.