Mexico captures alleged mastermind behind mayor’s assassination

MEXICO CITY – Mexico said on July 30 it captured the alleged brains behind the assassination of a beloved tough-on-crime mayor in a killing that ignited international outrage.

Assassins killed Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo last November while he was on the street with his family for the traditional Day of the Dead ceremony.

The killing shocked many Mexicans who saw the cowboy hat-wearing mayor as a modern-day Robin Hood, seen in social media videos accompanying police on crime-fighting operations.

The authorities arrested the suspect known as Ramon Angel “N”, also known as “R1”, whose last name was withheld for judicial reasons.

Mexico’s Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said the suspect was the leader of an armed group working for the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

The arrest took place in the town of Atotonilco el Alto in Jalisco state, where an AFP journalist saw the deployment of soldiers and armed vehicles.

Manzo’s widow and current Uruapan Mayor Grecia Quiroz welcomed the arrest.

“This progress is only the beginning of everything behind the murder of Carlos Manzo; I am convinced there is still much more to be clarified,” Quiroz wrote on her Facebook page.

Uruapan is at the heart of a prosperous agricultural area in the violent state of Michoacan.

During his time as mayor, Manzo gave speeches denouncing Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and the Michoacan state government, whom he held responsible for failing to contain violence.

More than 130,000 people have been “disappeared” at the hands of criminals or authorities since the start of the drug war in 2006, according to official numbers.

Harfuch said the latest suspect – the 31st arrest in relation to Manzo’s slaying – was nabbed “after months of intelligence work” involving police and Mexican army special forces.

The criminal cell led by the suspect is one of “the most violent tied to the CJNG” and operates in numerous cities in Michoacan and Jalisco, he said in a post on X.

“This organisation is tied to extortion, homicides, and drug trafficking, directly affecting producers, businessmen, and families in the region,” Harfuch said. AFP