URUAPAN, Mexico (AP) — Authorities on Friday arrested seven bodyguards suspected of being involved in the assassination earlier this month of a popular mayor in western central Mexico they were supposed to be protecting.
The Associated Press saw at least five of the suspects arrested by state and federal authorities in Uruapan on Friday, steps away from the site where Mayor Carlos Manzo was killed during Day of the Dead festivities on November 1.
Later, the Michoacan state prosecutor’s office said in a brief statement that seven public officials, which it did not identify, were arrested for their “probable participation in aggravated homicide.”
An official familiar with the operation said that all seven were bodyguards for Manzo. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about this.
Soldiers, National Guard troops and state agents led the suspects out of a city building Friday near the central square where a young gunman had shot Manzo. Attention was immediately turned to Manzo’s large security detail who failed to stop the gunman on his own and suspicion only grew when it appeared that the gunman had been shot dead by members of the security detail after he had him on the ground.
On Wednesday, Mexican authorities announced the arrest of a man they said was involved in planning and ordering the murder. They linked the plot to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the organized crime groups operating in Michoacan.
Manzo’s wife was sworn in as mayor of Uruapan after his assassination.
On Friday, members of Manzo’s team — and now his wife’s — recorded the arrests, some crying as they watched colleagues being carried away. Two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety said that among those arrested were members of Manzo’s inner circle.
The central square of Uruapan is still filled with candles as a tribute to the murdered politician, who spoke out against the rule of organized crime. Around the square are still hanging notes expressing sadness about Manzo’s murder and asking for justice.
The Mayor’s assassination brought renewed pressure on President Claudia Sheinbaum to adjust her security strategy. Days later she announced the Michoacan Plan, which while it was big on spending for social programs, also included having 10,000 soldiers spread throughout the state to gain control of the various criminal organizations that operate there.