Employee of Slain Michoacán Mayor 'Sold' Him in Exchange for Drugs, Report Claims

As weeks have passed, Mexican authorities have begun to reveal more information about the killing of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, who was assassinated during a Day of the Dead event on Nov. 1.

In one of the latest reports tied to the case, Milenio revealed that one of Manzo's employees in the Uruapan city government played a key role in enabling the mayor's killing.

According to the report, testimony from people linked to the case revealed that Samuel "N," the former director of Public Relations and Protocol for the Uruapan city hall, agreed to take part in a plan originally devised by a cell of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) to get rid of Manzo.

One suspect who testified before authorities confessed that Samuel "N" knew what was going to happen to Manzo a month before the mayor was killed.

According to testimony from Josué Eulogio, who worked as a taxi driver in Uruapan and also sold drugs for the Jalisco cartel, the public relations director was addicted to drugs and bought large quantities of cocaine from him. That behavior caught the attention of his boss, known as "El M2," the alleged leader of a CJNG cell in Uruapan.

In his testimony, the man said that through text messages on WhatsApp, El M2 established contact with Samuel "N." About a month before the attack, Josué Eulogio was allegedly informed of plans to kill Manzo because the mayor posed a serious threat to the criminal organization's objectives.

"All right, whatever you need, I'll help you," Samuel "N" allegedly said, according to Josué Eulogio's testimony.

On the day of the attack, the man recalled that his boss asked him to check with Samuel "N" about Manzo's location and route for the Day of the Dead event. Later that afternoon, he sent the itinerary by message, and minutes later Samuel "N" confirmed that Manzo had already arrived at the event.

According to the testimony, Josué later asked his informant that night whether he felt any remorse for having taken part in the attack.

"No, relax, nothing is going to happen. I was fed up with him, he had me running all over the place," the man recounted.

Also known as "El Viejito," Josué Eulogio was arrested Jan. 9 in a supermarket parking lot after police caught him urinating in public. When officers asked for his identification, he dropped a bag containing methamphetamine and was taken into custody.

As reported by Milenio, the following day Josué Eulogio decided to talk and confessed that he had knowledge of the Carlos Manzo case, prompting a public prosecutor to take his statement.

Another woman who worked for Manzo as head of the municipal office, identified as Yesenia "N," also played a key role in the arrest of her co-worker Samuel "N."

According to her statement, she found two cellphones in her office that belonged to Samuel and turned them over to authorities.

After being questioned by authorities about her role in the crime, Yesenia "N" was released.

As authorities continue to reveal new details surrounding Manzo's killing, Milenio also reported that the Jalisco cartel offered a reward of two million pesos, nearly $35,000, to anyone willing to carry out the assassination.

One of the men responsible for recruiting the gunmen was identified as Ramiro "N," who was found dead on a highway near Uruapan a few days after the killing.

According to the Milenio report, Ramiro "N" confessed in a letter to his wife that he worked for the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación and also for Jorge Armando "N," known as "El Licenciado," an alleged recruiter for the cartel in the Uruapan region.