The Fiscalía de Michoacán announced on Thursday that it had arrested Rosa Alejandra Vargas, a former secretary of Bienestar y Protección Social in Uruapan, for her alleged involvement in the concealment of the 2025 murder of the town’s mayor, Carlos Manzo. Manzo was killed on the streets of Uruapan while he was with his family during the traditional Día de Muertos celebrations. The attack is believed to have been ordered by the powerful Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartel. After the mayor’s death, his widow, Grecia Quiroz, assumed the municipal government. According to a statement from the state prosecutor’s office, Vargas was detained “por su probable responsabilidad en el delito de encubrimiento.” Prosecutor Israel Vega added that Vargas is the mother of one of the detainees in the investigation and the aunt of two others, and that she failed to appear at court summons. Uruapan is located in the central part of Michoacán, a region known for its agricultural exports. The mayor had gained national attention for his outspoken stance against organized crime and for urging President Claudia Sheinbaum to provide greater support to local security efforts. With Vargas’s arrest, the total number of detentions related to the case has reached 34. In July, authorities also detained the head of a hit‑men group that served the CJNG and who is suspected of being the intellectual author of the mayor’s murder.
Article source: El Nuevo Diario | Image credit: El Nuevo Diario