Authorities in Mexico’s violence-hit state of Michoacán have arrested seven bodyguards assigned to Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo over their alleged role in his assassination, deepening questions about possible collusion or gross negligence inside his security ring.
Manzo, 40, a high-profile critic of cartel extortion of avocado growers, was gunned down on 1 November while attending a Day of the Dead ceremony with his family in central Uruapan. A teenage gunman fired multiple shots at close range, sending crowds fleeing through streets decorated for the traditional Festival de las Vela
The Michoacán attorney general’s office said the seven municipal guards were detained for their “probable participation in the crime of aggravated homicide, in commission by omission” — a legal term suggesting they failed in their duty to protect the mayor, and may have abetted the killing.
Their arrests came two days after authorities captured Jorge Armando “N.”, alias El Licenciado, described as the mastermind of the attack and leader of a local cell tied to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Investigators say phone records from earlier detainees revealed an encrypted messaging group used to track Manzo’s movements and coordinate the hit. The CJNG allegedly offered 2 million pesos (about $115,000) for the mayor’s assassination, with people close to him accused of leaking his routine.
One of the most serious accusations against the bodyguards is that after the 17-year-old gunman, Víctor Manuel Ubaldo, was subdued, a member of Manzo’s detail shot him in the back of the head using the same weapon the teen had fired — an act prosecutors say may have been intended to silence a key witness.
Manzo’s killing — he was the seventh mayor slain in Michoacán during the current governorship — unleashed mass protests and fuelled nationwide anger over cartel influence and official failures to protect elected officials. Thousands marched in Uruapan and other cities demanding justice, helping spur President Claudia Sheinbaum to unveil “Plan Michoacán”, deploying more than 10,000 federal troops and rolling out new social programmes in the state.
Earlier this month, Manzo’s widow, Grecia Quiroz, was sworn in as Uruapan’s new municipal president, vowing to continue her husband’s hardline stance against organized crime and pressure authorities to fully expose those behind his murder.
All eight suspects — El Licenciado and the seven bodyguards — have now been placed in pre-trial detention as the investigation into one of Mexico’s most shocking political assassinations in recent years intensifies.
