Mexican Police Arrest Alleged Mastermind Behind Assassination of Anti-Cartel Mayor

The suspect is allegedly linked to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Police officers stand guard as protesters demonstrate against the assassination of Uruapan's mayor at the Government Palace in Morelia, Michoacan state, Mexico, on Nov. 3, 2025. Jordi Lebrija/AFP via Getty Images

Police in Mexico have arrested a man they say orchestrated the murder of an outspoken mayor known for his hardline stance against organized crime.

The suspect, identified as Jorge Armando “N.”, was arrested on Nov. 18. Authorities accused him of directing members of a criminal cell through an encrypted messaging app, issuing orders to surveil Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo, track his movements, and carry out the assassination.

Manzo, 40, was killed on Nov. 1 while attending a Day of the Dead celebration alongside his family in Uruapan, a city in the western state of Michoacán. The gunman shot Manzo seven times before being killed at the scene.

Running on an anti-corruption, anti-crime platform, Manzo became known for wearing a bulletproof vest in public and for openly challenging the criminal groups deeply rooted in Michoacán. He frequently denounced cartels for extorting and threatening Uruapan’s avocado growers—an economic lifeline for the state—and vowed to fight back against their influence.

Manzo was also a vocal critic of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s strategy against cartel violence. He had repeatedly called on the federal government to provide local law enforcement with additional firepower and funding to combat organized crime.

His assassination sparked massive protests in the state capital, Morelia, where protesters who tried to storm government buildings clashed with police. The unrest has since spread beyond Michoacán to other parts of the country, including Mexico City.

Investigators Allege Cartel Link

At a news conference on Nov. 19, Mexico’s public security secretary, Omar García Harfuch, said investigators had identified two men who accompanied the shooter, Víctor Manuel “N.”, who was killed at the scene. The two accomplices—Fernando Josué “N.” and Ramiro “N.”—were found dead on Nov. 10, in what authorities believe may have been an attempt to obstruct the investigation.

García Harfuch said Jorge Armando, also known as “El Licenciado,” or The Graduate,” pressured his men to open fire even though Manzo was surrounded by civilians. He added that the suspect has ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most violent and dominant criminal organizations.

“This arrest represents a key step in dismantling the criminal organization responsible for this attack,” García Harfuch said.

The CJNG emerged more than a decade ago as an offshoot of the Milenio Cartel, an ally to the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. It gained notoriety for its willingness to use extreme violence and engage in violent confrontations with both Mexican security forces and rival cartels.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration describes CJNG as a “key supplier” of illicit fentanyl fueling the United States’s deadly opioid crisis, and as one of the “most powerful, influential, and ruthless transnational criminal organizations in the world.”

Mexican authorities have not publicly confirmed a motive for Manzo’s killing, but CJNG is notorious for targeting public officials who refuse to do its bidding.

One of its most high-profile assassination attempts took place in June 2020, when suspected CJNG gunmen ambushed García Harfuch—then serving as Mexico City’s police chief, wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards.

That December, suspected CJNG members killed Aristoteles Sandoval, former governor of Jalisco, in a restaurant bathroom in the popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta. Earlier, in March 2013, during Sandoval’s first week in office, his tourism minister was shot dead in Guadalajara in another attack attributed to CJNG.