It has been more than a month since Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, was tragically killed at a public event. Since then, Mexican authorities have opened multiple lines of investigation to identify those responsible.
So far, federal and state forces have arrested nine people and opened legal proceedings against them, while another suspect remains at large.
In late November, Omar García Harfuch, Mexico's top security official, said at a news conference that Manzo's killing was planned with the help of Jorge Armando "N," a man who, according to recent statements from authorities, worked for the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in the states of Michoacán and Guanajuato.
Although he did not mention him by name, Michoacán Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said during a Dec. 4 press conference that Jorge Armando "N" had ties not only in Michoacán but also with CJNG cells in Guanajuato.
"This individual also carried out criminal activity in Guanajuato," Ramírez Bedolla said, as reported by Infobae México.
According to investigators, "El Licenciado" ordered members of a criminal cell to carry out the hit on the Uruapan mayor at all costs and instructed them to delete messages and hide to avoid detection.
Although authorities have linked Jorge Armando "N" to the Jalisco cartel, he has claimed he does not belong to the group led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," and even alleged he was tortured by Mexican security forces.
His statements were dismissed by Carlos Torres Piña, head of the Michoacán Attorney General's Office, who said the claims of irregularities and torture were false.
Torres Piña said the arrest was conducted properly and followed protocol, adding that it was a flagrante detention because the suspect was caught with drugs and a firearm and even tried to bribe the officers who intercepted him.
El Licenciado is one of two suspects identified by Mexican authorities as belonging to the Jalisco cartel. The second, Jaciel Antonio "N," known as "El Pelón," has been described as a CJNG recruiter and the person who brought in Víctor Manuel Ubaldo Vidales, the teenager who carried out the killing against Manzo during a Day of the Dead event on Nov. 1.
On Nov. 30, a state judge presented evidence identifying him as a suspected extortionist. According to prosecutors, El Pelón allegedly extorted the mother of Fernando Josué "N," one of the teenagers who, along with Ubaldo Vidales, took part in the attack on Manzo. During a phone call, Jaciel Antonio "N" demanded money from her in exchange for the release of Fernando Josué and his friend Víctor Manuel.
That same day, El Pelón went to the victims' home to collect the payment. Once there, he pressured Fernando Josué's mother to contact the other teenager's family so they would also pay for his release.
Because of these actions, on Nov. 23, agents from the state prosecutor's office, supported by the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, arrested El Pelón, who was carrying drugs and tried to bribe officers by offering them $10,000 to let him go, the Mexican outlet Proceso reported.
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