Evidence Presented by State Judge Ties 'El Pelón' to Killing of Mexican Mayor

It has been a month since Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán state, was killed, and Mexican authorities have slowly begun to release information about those responsible and how the murder unfolded.

So far, federal and state forces have arrested and opened legal proceedings against nine people allegedly linked to the attack, while one more suspect remains at large.

The latest individual to face charges is Jaciel Antonio "N," who on Nov. 30 was identified by a judge as the person who recruited Víctor Manuel Ubaldo Vidales, the teenager who carried out the killing against Manzo during a Day of the Dead event on Nov. 1.

A state judge presented strong evidence against Jaciel Antonio "N," also known as "El Pelón," identifying him as a suspected extortionist. According to findings from prosecutors, El Pelón allegedly extorted the mother of Fernando Josué "N," one of the teenagers who, along with Ubaldo Vidales, participated in the attack on Manzo. During a phone call, Jaciel Antonio "N" demanded money from the mother 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 the mother of Fernando Josué to contact the family of the other teenager so they would also pay for his release.

Because of these criminal actions, on Nov. 23 agents from the state prosecutor's office, with support from the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), arrested El Pelón, who at the time was carrying drugs and tried to bribe officers by offering them 10,000 dollars to let him go, Mexican news outlet Proceso reported.

As a precautionary measure, the court ordered pretrial detention for Jaciel Antonio "N" and set a four-month deadline for the completion of the supplemental investigation.

In a post on X, Mexico's security chief and head of the SSPC, Omar García Harfuch, said El Pelón also worked as a recruiter inside rehabilitation centers, where he enlisted people into criminal groups. Two of the individuals he recruited ultimately took part in Manzo's killing on Nov. 1., authorities revealed.

In late November, Harfuch said investigators had determined that those responsible for the assassination used an instant messaging app to plan the attack, ordering participants to position themselves across the city to track the mayor's movements and report his exact location.

Jorge Armando "N," also known as "El Licenciado," has been identified by authorities as one of the intellectual leaders of the criminal cell behind Manzo's murder. According to Harfuch, he was the one who ordered members of the group to carry out the attack on the Uruapan mayor at all costs, and he also instructed them to delete messages and hide to avoid detection by authorities.

Harfuch also identified Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, known as "El R-1" as the leader of the cell for which El Licenciado worked for, and who allegedly ordered Manzo's killing.

According to Milenio, Álvarez Ayala is considered one of the highest ranking figures of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in Michoacán and oversees cells that operate in the state. He was arrested in 2012 along with two of his brothers, and remained behind bars for 10 years until his 2022 release after a judge ruled that the case lacked the evidence needed to support the charges, which included kidnapping and organized crime.

Milenio also reported that El R-1 leads Los Cannabis, a CJNG cell that operates in Uruapan. Authorities said the organization was one of the groups Manzo confronted during his time as mayor.