A group of Jordanian high schoolers couldn’t have anticipated that their plan to cheat on a biology exam would snowball into a diplomatic crisis dragging in ministers, ambassadors and intelligence agents from across the Middle East. Yet that’s exactly what happened this spring in an incident that has renewed demands for education reforms.

A scandal involving Jordan, Sudan and Egypt erupted in March after 23 students traveled from Aye, a village in southern Jordan, to Khartoum, Sudan, to take their final high school exams. In Jordan, the exams are known as the Tawjihi. Students who pass can go on to university studies, while the stigma of failing is so severe it drives some to suicide. This year, hundreds of Jordanian students took the Sudanese equivalent instead, hoping to get higher scores on a less challenging test.

A fixer from Aye facilitated the enrollment of students from the village in Sudanese exam centers. This type of service is not uncommon, but unlike others who provide it, he also promised to make sure they passed. Jordanian officials allege that the night before the biology exam, he gave the students a copy of the questions.

The scheme spiraled out of control when one student angered the fixer by sharing the exam outside the group, the officials said. Jordanian officials and individuals close to the families alleged that the fixer and the other students from Aye kidnapped and tortured him for sharing the questions and held him long enough to let the fixer flee the country.