Mexican Authorities Link Killing of Uruapan Mayor to Jalisco Cartel Gunmen

Nearly a week after Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, was killed during a Day of the Dead event, state authorities confirmed that the murder was carried out by a young man who worked for the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).

According to the Michoacán Attorney General's Office, the suspect was identified as 17-year-old Víctor Manuel Ubaldo Vidales, a resident of the municipality of Paracho, located about 25 miles north of Uruapan.

As reported by Infobae México, state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña announced the finding and said the teenager's family had told authorities that Ubaldo Vidales disappeared from their home about a week before the killing.

Investigators said the teen struggled with methamphetamine addiction. Forensic tests also found traces of sodium rhodizonate, a chemical used to detect gunshot residue, on his hands and clothing, indicating that he had fired a weapon shortly before his death.

"The progress of the investigation and intelligence work has allowed us to determine that more than two people participated in this attack and that the homicide is linked to organized crime groups," Torres Piña said.

In an interview, Torres Piña said the attacker was connected to a CJNG cell, one of several criminal organizations operating in Michoacán. For years, CJNG factions have been fighting for territory with rival groups such as Cárteles Unidos and Los Caballeros Templarios, both active in the Uruapan region.

The prosecutor said the weapon recovered after Manzo's killing was linked to two previous investigations in October. The first, on Oct. 16, was connected to a double homicide at a local barbershop, and the second, on Oct. 23, involved a person who was attacked and later died at the hospital.

"The firearm used in the attack on the mayor of Uruapan has the same ballistic signature as those two incidents," Torres Piña added.

Michoacán authorities and investigators confirmed there are signs suggesting that Ubaldo Vidales did not act alone, and that ongoing investigations point to the involvement of at least two other people.

"We are reviewing videos and photographs. There are indications that one of them left the hotel with him," Torres Piña said, according to Infobae México.

As reported earlier this week by The Latin Times, Manzo's death marked the third assassination of a Michoacán mayor this year. Under the administration of Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, violence against public officials in the state has spiraled out of control.

Since he took office in October 2021, seven mayors in Michoacán have been killed, while another has been missing since that same year.

The growing wave of violence has fueled public discontent with Ramírez Bedolla's administration. On Nov. 2, during Manzo's funeral, the governor was reportedly expelled from the service after attendees accused him of failing to protect the mayor, despite Manzo having previously reported threats against him.